Web Users Judge Sites in the Blink of an Eye

This story from Nature (subscription required) got picked up in a lot of publications, but for good reason. Canadian researcher Gitte Lindgaard of Carleton University found that visitors to a Web page can make up their minds about the quality of the page within just 50 milliseconds. The article states that: "We all know that first impressions count, but this study shows that the brain can make flash judgments almost as fast as the eye can take in the information." This is why it is so important for firms to consider the image they want to convey. Users immediately make a judgment about a site (and therefore a company) - is this a site/company that is "all business," one that is fun, one that is easy to do business with, one that is accessible, etc...