From http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/12444.asp
Published: November 15, 2006
By Joseph Carrabis
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Introduction
There are many sayings about the power and longevity of first impressions. The one I like best is "you never get a second chance to make a good first impression." The trouble with first impressions is that they work at a non-conscious level. Someone's off-putting and we can't describe why; it's just a feeling we get. We say, "I got a bad vibe from them" or "they gave off the wrong message." And it doesn't matter if that bad first impression is valid-- all that matters is that that bad first impression colors everything that comes after.
Human first impressions have an analog on the web. The first impression a website or marketing material creates leaves a lasting impression that influences all future transactions. Visitors might shop a site but not convert on it and not know why. If they do convert, they might spend $20 here, but $200 somewhere else.
We're going to learn what first impressions some homepages may be creating and how to fix them as necessary in this article via a simple, two-step process:
1. Analyze the homepage to determine what demographic it reaches most easily, and what first impression it gives that demographic.
2. Suggest simple corrections to increase each site's effectiveness within that demographic based on the results.
Three sites were chosen in each vertical section by iMediaConnection and NextStage. The homepages were downloaded with IE 6.0, Firefox 1.07, Netscape 7.2, Opera 8.51, SeaMonkey 1.05 and Flock 0.76 on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2006. Analyses were performed by NextStage's TargetTrack tool and research staff. Nothing below the fold was considered; first impressions are just that-- once the visitor begins to interact with the site the first impression is finished. Each section concludes with a table overview of the gender and personality types that vertical's sites will appeal to most strongly.
Let's begin!
GenY etailers
KarmaLoop
KarmaLoop's homepage is interesting for several reasons. The way the eye scans the page makes the sunglassed figure the first recognizable aspect of the page. Unfortunately, someone staring at you wearing sunglasses doesn't generate warm fuzzies. The page content, however, is strongly male-oriented. It is the type of male who would be drawn to this page that intrigues me. The separation of the characters in the image, the male behind the female, the expression on their faces-- do lots of males you know like being challenged with a lack of intimacy? The color choice is a power motif, but with the female in control (she's relaxed in the car).
Suggestions:
1. Unclutter the page.
2. Remove the recruitment boxes (bottom left) until after the visitor's been qualified as a likely candidate.
PacSun
PacSun's homepage gets two things correct right out of the gate: a group of equals having fun together (this demographic is strongly into social networks) and the use of brand names in that image, hinting that the brands are the cause of the fun. The site is also visually clean (a big negative for KarmaLoop's site) and demonstrates that PacSun understands how to 360 their audience-- there's a link to "Pac Radio" so you can listen while you shop. The more sensory activity you can engage your audience in, the greater chance you have of capturing them for present and future business.
Both PacSun and KarmaLoop are "Hacker Safe." KarmaLoop puts it up top and at the end of the visual scan, which voices that it's a big concern to either KarmaLoop's customers or management. PacSun has it on the bottom right, an excellent spot because it's out of the visual scan and, when it is seen, is placed to instill comfort and security rather than alarm. PacSun is also male-oriented, but they demonstrate a very different male (check out the image).
Suggestions:
1. Add an RSS feed (something KarmaLoop does) in addition to email.
2. Both sites could benefit by text-messaging when friends are shopping the site, making it a gathering place.
XThreadz
Yes, well...not really sure where to go with this one. Unless someone was getting a link directly into their store, this page would be a game ender. First, visitors have to know what they want (not good for a demographic that takes its cues from a highly mobile peer group) and believe that they'll find it by following the link (not likely as the page is almost antiseptic in appearance). All computers and browsers indicated there was a popup being blocked and that cookies were being dropped. The page also asked visitors to download Flash 5.0. Anytime you take visitors away from the shopping experience, you lose them.
Suggestions:
1. Assuming the goal is to get people shopping, put some products right up front so that visitors can a) shop and b) get an idea they've come to the correct place. There is a link to the store on this page (several, if you look at the source code) and an image of products would be a more obvious link to get people shopping.
GenY Etailers Summary Table
| Site | Gender Orientation | Personality Orientation |
| KarmaLoop | Male | Rebellious, loner types; what my generation thought of as James Dean wannabes, or your basic "Rebel without a clue" types |
| PacSun | Male | Socially oriented; forms opinions then confirms them with others; tends to think of things in black or white absolutes |
| XThreadz | Male | Focuses on problems without offering solutions; moves toward goals without ever attaining them |
Financial services
Fidelity
All three financials we investigated shared a male orientation, although not a strong one. Both Fidelity and Merrill Lynch's sites have elements fostering a belief that the future will be better than today-- a good message to send if you're an investment house. Fidelity's homepage is not browser aware, which is a negative, and is left-biased regardless of browser. It has a very clean layout, but the print was small in all browsers. The title bar has a "Log In" option next to the logo and "Contact Us" at the far right. Switching the position of these two elements might increase visitor confidence in Fidelity's ability to answer questions quickly and accurately.
Suggestions:
1. Move the page to the center of the screen.
2. Use a larger font. If you're going to use green, use "money" green consistently.
Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch's homepage shares some of the same placement flaws as Fidelity's, but ML's homepage is also browser aware. That's a plus as it demonstrates a willingness to work on the user's terms-- a good thing if you want someone to trust your investment advice. The color choices simultaneously show warmth and cooling, and are framed so that the individual components are cool while there's heat around them-- nicely done. The image at the top indicates people are more important than dollars, which is a clue that ML's demographic is slightly different from Fidelity's.
Suggestions:
It's tough to make suggestions on what should be working well without knowing more about their traffic patterns, but here are some topline tips:
1. Because ML's demographic appears -- based on this analysis -- different from Fidelity's, leave the page left-biased.
2. There's room for more "highlights" in the bottom middle of the page, but their demographic has a greater "risk-taker" nature than does Fidelity, so it's also good to leave the visitor wanting more. Making them click demonstrates curiosity, if not commitment on their part, and that's a good thing.
Schwab
Schwab's demographic took us by surprise as it sends a message that it's better to be pessimistic than optimistic. It will attract people who are uncomfortable taking risk (maybe to convince them there's no risk involved with Schwab), but then nothing is done to convince them that investing with Schwab isn't risky. It's attractive to people who like to micro-manage, but doesn't provide them with obvious tools to do so. Also, Schwab's color choice went beyond bland and into the realm of uncomfortable. Last item-- the only human face on the site is in the lower right and is small compared to other action items on the page, indicating a lack of the human touch, interest or response. All of these things are echoed in the personality types who'll be most attracted to the Schwab site.
Suggestions: I finally get to sound like a consultant-- "it depends..."
1. If Schwab's goal is to separate itself from the pack, good job-- change nothing.
2. If Schwab wants to attract more of Fidelity's and ML's audience, add some human faces to the homepage and use warmer colors. A help item with a human face right up front would be a plus.
Financials Summary Table
| Site | Gender Orientation | Personality Orientation |
| Fidelity | Male | Looking toward a good, rewarding future; makes plans and has confidence they'll bear fruit; forms an opinion then discusses it with others to make a decision |
| Merrill Lynch | Male | Looking toward a good; rewarding future; very hands-on, are risk-takers; are convinced by a positive performance |
| Schwab | Male | Not risk-takers although believe risk is inevitable; tend to micro-manage, do not like to plan; believe there's trouble ahead |
Travel
Travelocity
The Travelocity homepage makes good use of colors, as the colors chosen show clear separation of tasks. The layout tends to favor people with a negative attitude, and that might be a good thing (i.e., attracts those not happy with their current situation), although a wider audience would be drawn by a centered page. This is also a male-oriented page. Contrast the image on this page with KarmaLoop: same position, radically different message.
Suggestions:
1. This page attracts people who "believe what they see," so using more images or larger images under the main image would be a plus.
2. This page will most likely attract people with poor planning ability who are unhappy where they are, so a "Get-Away Planner" would be a big plus.
3. The bottom left says, "We look out for you...even before you go." That's a powerful message to this audience, so make it more prominent.
Orbitz
Like XThreadz, all browsers blocked an Orbitz's popup-- not a good thing. Like Travelocity, Orbitz makes good use of colors to visually separate tasks, although the right-hand color combination will drive eyes to the left-hand block (perhaps intentional as the left-hand block is an obvious product path and is much cleaner on the screen). This page will attract a different demographic from Travelocity and Lonely Planet-- one that is much more social network savvy (and perhaps younger: college through late 20s). If this is the goal, use an image or two of a group engaged in an enjoyable, travel related activity (similar to PacSun).
Suggestions:
1. If the goal is to increase right-hand screen activities, either move the page to the center of the screen or use a different color scheme (a soft red comes to mind).
2. Should less screen space be given to the existing left-hand elements, place images of groups at destinations in the center and use these as jumps to quick and easy product paths.
Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet gets big kudos for homepage design. This site will attract visitors with a strong goal orientation (the destinations map) and are socially oriented with a "black or white" attitude to their travels (the top image). Color use is good and draws the eyes down the page so that all screen elements are recognized before navigation begins-- also excellent. There are strong social elements on the page (e.g., video competition, Thorn Tree, articles and photo features). These should be emphasized, possibly by placing links along the unused portion of the left hand menu and below the "About Us" item.
Suggestions:
1. The screen is a little cluttered. The layout will attract people who like a clear delineation between "heres" and "theres," so using more whitespace between action groups would make visitors more active on the site.
Travel Summary Table
| Site | Gender Orientation | Personality Orientation |
| Travelocity | Male | Believe what they see; focus on immediate tasks; are not good planners |
| Orbitz | Male | Strong social orientation; listen to others' opinions before making decisions; worry about the future; pay more attention to what goes wrong than what goes right |
| Lonely Planet | Male | Highly goal-focused, have positive outlooks; will respond best to plans with clear beginnings and ends, have a social orientation; tend to have a "black or white" orientation |
Automotive
KBB.com
Like Lonely Planet, KBB.com makes excellent use of color to draw the eye down the page, with the two top block colors pushing the eye toward the right action block. The "80 Years of Trust" image plays well to the "believes what they see" aspect of the audience, and the page layout as a whole (tool and information orientation) is a draw to the "time and process" orientation of the audience. A real plus is that 90 percent of the page is above the fold-- something lacking in several other homepages we analyzed. Demographics who "believe what they see" don't often go looking (i.e., scroll below the fold) for information; what they can't immediately see simply doesn't exist to them.
Suggestions:
1. The "black or white" orientation would be better served by a cleaner layout, as mentioned in Lonely Planet.
2. Featuring a "Troubles" or "Problems" or "Things to Watch Out For" section would be a big draw to this audience.
Cars.com
Cars.com draws much the same audience as Orbitz, so the same rules apply.
Suggestions:
1. Color use could be better because the mid-screen action items have a push color rather than a pull color, and this audience doesn't like to be pushed.
2. There's no obvious social component to the page; including one would be a plus.
3. Like KBB.com, a "Troubles," "Problems" or "Things to Watch Out For" section would be a plus with this audience.
Toyota
Toyota gets big kudos for design, as well. The central placement of the page causes the visitor to be centered in the action, which is a vehicle in motion. The fact that the vehicle is directionally moving up to the right -- a positive direction in western culture -- is also a big plus. The page is visually clean-- another big plus for this audience.
Suggestions:
1. This audience has little to no time-management skills, so placing reasonable time-to-completion values next to each shopping tool (bottom left) would help this audience make more use of those elements.
Automotive Summary Table
| Site | Gender Orientation | Personality Orientation |
| kbb.com | Neutral | Believe what they see; have a "black or white" orientation; form opinions but confirm them with others; are time and process focused when making decisions, tend to have a negative outlook on things |
| cars.com | Male | Strong social orientation; listen to others' opinions before making decisions, worry about the future, pay more attention to what goes wrong than what goes right |
| Toyota | Male | Prefers to experience things firsthand, will listen to others only to confirm their own thoughts; have a positive outlook on life; are highly reward oriented, tend to focus on what's immediately around them; little to no time management skills |
Mobile providers
Sprint-Nextel
Sprint-Nextel is an oddity in that it doesn't demonstrate any aspect of a recognized driver for cellular communications-- community and social networking factors. The page is visually clean and the banner color drives the eye into the center of the page, but once there, there's no obvious action item, no clearly recognizable product path or action path to drive the visitor deeper into the site.
Suggestions:
1. A quick fix would be to change the banner's "The Power to Talk More Every Day" to "The Power to Talk More to More of Your Friends Every Day," driving the social aspects home.
2. A change in banner color to something warmer would also help, as would some images of people talking to each other (even if it's two guys communicating at a construction site) or some of the other social tools mentioned previously.
US Cellular
US Cellular's homepage is also an oddity, but for completely different reasons. The site is male-oriented by design yet the central graphic shows a very powerful female-oriented image demonstrating a strong social network in action. Nicely done! There are several social network factors on the page -- a big plus -- as well as a smiling Joan Cusack inviting visitors to check out online-only offers. The color scheme is good and uses soft colors all around. (Cars.com could take a lesson here.)
Suggestions:
1. This site does a lot well, so making suggestions is like adding two percent where 90 percent already exists. The only real suggestion is based on the personality types that would be drawn to the site; the central top image would benefit by a "success story" link because this audience makes decisions on what works, not what doesn't. In other words, it's not about your network having more reach than your competitors', it about what your subscribers could do because your network had more reach than your competitors'.
WALD
Working Assets Long Distance (WALD)'s homepage is incredibly clean-- a big plus for a socially aware and social cause active market that like clean delineations between what's good and what's not. The statement, "We've got you covered," is an excellent double-entendre to this provider's audience, even if it's not an intentional one. The bottom of the screen shows causes. This is excellent placement for what -- to many people -- tend to be emotional issues. The "Working Assets members are connecting to a better world" is a true driver for this audience. Excellent color choice and a central layout are big pluses to an audience that is motivated by what could be rather than what is. Three basic main menu items is all this audience would need and would probably accept. More options would be considered "muddying the wa-ters." All in all, nicely done.
Suggestions:
1. This is another example of adding two percent where 90 percent already exists. The only real suggestion would be to add success stories authored by subscribers and linked to each of the mentioned causes. This would let the visitor know that WALD does what it says-- a big plus for people who "believe in firsthand experience."
Mobile Providers Summary Table
| Site | Gender Orientation | Personality Orientation |
| Sprint-Nextel | Neutral | Believe what they see; have a "black or white" orientation; form opinions but confirm them with others; are time and process focused when making decisions; tend to have a negative outlook on things |
|
US Cellular
| Male | Have an extremely positive outlook on life; have no concept of time or what's involved in getting something done; make decisions based on what works; not what doesn't work |
| WALD | Male | Believe in firsthand experience, not risk-takers; tend to have a negative outlook on things; are willing to recognize and deal with problems; are socially active; are willing to focus on what might be rather than what is |
Conclusion
As mentioned in the introduction, analyses was performed by NextStage's TargetTrack tool and research staff. The power and accuracy of NextStage's TargetTrack tool is a matter of record; it has predicted top business performers and election outcomes with equal ease.
There are many things that go into a First Impression Analysis. We consider what's above the fold. We also consider how much is below the fold and whether or not what's above the fold is a driver to make the visitor scroll. The fact that some pages only behave well in specific browsers is considered because this creates an impression that people using other browsers aren't in the company's market, and that flash or "oomph" are more important than conversions in those demographics.
The take-away from this exercise is that websites, like people, can make a good or not so good first impression, and that first impressions affect everything else that happens on a site. The bad news is that most site owners are unaware of First Impressionitis and how simply it can be solved. NextStage has dealt with colleges, management groups and even marketing firms with websites that drove people away without anyone knowing why, the only evidence being dwindling numbers in their analytics.
What needs to be remembered is that first impressions are made when visitors open websites just as surely as they are when meeting someone for the first time. The analysis itself is based research and concepts discussed in my iMedia columns, in NextStage's whitepapers, in presentations and lectures and in "Reading Virtual Minds".
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