10 years of Good Web Design

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4616700.stm

Apparantly, users make a decision about whether a website contains good quality content within 0.2 seconds of seeing the page. Is this true? REALLY? Perhaps that's the case, but the [implicit] extrapolation that users are dumb enough not to be able to change their mind about a page after 5 seconds is what gaulls me about this; although I suspect it's half-arsed reporting on behalf of the media again.

I have been to many sites which are so clearly amateur looking that I would recoil and head for the back button, but I have also been to sites where the presentation is bad, but I have some trust of the content on that site. If the study was specifically targetting e-commerce sites, then I can say I have been to shops where the presentation is pretty bad, but I still shop there because I know that they're good shops. Had I been one of these zombies who were unable to change their mind I'd be spending more and waiting longer on a pretty site.

Of course, presentation is important to the branding of a company and putting forward an aura of quality, but I still believe the content quality is what forms the user's opinion of the site.

A month ago the BBC also ran this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4061093.stm

I basically agree with everything Dr.Nielsen says, although I personally think his views of Amazon's site are wrong. In my opinion, its popularity goes to show exactly why the presentation of a site doesn't really matter that much; because Amazon's site looks horrible. I often spend 5 or 10 seconds searching for some link on Amazon's site that really should be better placed; the colours are garish, but it's the layout that is the downfall for me. What a mess. Just go and look at a product description page for a minute. It's just so ragged and messy, almost nothing is delineated from each other and above all, it's not very accessible. My basic HTML validator shows 28 errors, and 319 warnings on some random product page. However, despite all that, I still use them for lots of things, because they offer good value, a good range and good service; and to me it proves my point that although design is important it's not everything. Remember, content is king. Of course, if you have both you're onto a winner.