Laura, the running star I mention below, is also my beautiful 13 yo daughter.
As 13 yo girls tend to do, Laura goes to the local High School. She’s a lovely kid – always willing to have a go at new stuff.
One of her classes at school is “Home Economics”. Which is, and correct me if I’m wrong, just a fancy, nancy phrase for “cooking”.
Today the class made Cheesecakes. I’ve just come from home where I had a slice of Laura’s Cheesecake and it was simply magnificent. Just perfect. And trust me on this, I know a thing or 2 about Cheesecake!
“You would have gotten an ‘A’ for that Lawsie!”
Laura was in her bedroom so I called out from the living room “You would have gotten an ‘A’ for that Lawsie!”
She came out and told me she’d gotten a ‘B’.
A ‘B’. Is that teacher crazy?! Insane! I’m a Cheesecake aficionado and I gave it an ‘A’ without any hesitation at all! The teacher obviously didn’t take a big enough bite.
The Way The Food Is Judged
But Laura told me this: she told me how the teacher marks the food. And it’s pretty much the way a lot of web designers think web sites should be judged.
The Teacher Checks Out How The Cheesecake Looks
The teacher takes a look at the Cheesecake and makes her judgment on that (Laura lost some marks because the side ‘crust’ was a bit thin in 1 area). That’s it. Just the look of the Cheesecake.
Nuts!! That’s no way to judge a Cheesecake. You crazy, crazy teacher person!!
This is Brendon’s easy 3-step way to judge Cheesecake:
1. Slice large piece of Cheesecake and place on a plate
2. Grab spoon, scoop up a big piece of Cheesecake and stuff in mouth
3. If the person eating says these words – “Oh yeh Baby!!! I love this Cheesecake…..gimme, gimme, gimme!”, then that’s good.
If the person slowly places their spoon down, spits their mouthful into a serviette and then disposes of the lot into a bin…..well, then that might be a ‘B’.
A Cheesecake has to taste great. It needs to look okay…..but presentation runs a very poor second to the taste. That’s the only way to judge a Cheesecake.
I See The Same Problem With Web Sites
I see the same problem with web sites – people tend to judge the quality of a web site on how it looks, rather than how it performs.
And that’s crazy. The primary aim of a web site is, almost always, to make the sale.
Like the Cheesecake it has to look okay to get your interested. But don’t lose sight of the primary aim of the web site – it’s to perform a specific function and design is only 1 part of that pie (or cake).
Look Good And Perform
Select a web developer who understands the need for the site to look good AND perform.
Bon Appetit!
P.S: Here’s a terrific report – How Do People Evaluate a Web Site’s Credibility? (it’s a pdf file) – that takes a look at the importance of a nice looking design. Sure, it kind of goes against what I’m saying above with the Cheesecake story……….but presentation is still important.
Cheers
I love these anecdotes.
Anyway, you are very right that web designers have a (natural) bias towards good-looking design rather than function.
Anyway, I’d like to comment on your PS. That study shows that users determine a sites credibility by it’s design. Sure enough, they do, but credibility does not equal function. I mean, I think the HP website is very credible, but it still completely sucks, function wise.