I am inclined to agree for the most part. In general, I too believe that first impressions are very, very important. But you already knew this, right?

Internet users can give Web sites a thumbs up or thumbs down in less than the blink of an eye, according to a study by Canadian researchers.

In just a brief one-twentieth of a second – less than half the time it takes to blink – people make aesthe-tic judgments that influence the rest of their experience with an Internet site.

Those judgments weren’t random, researchers found; sites that were flashed up twice were given similar ratings both times. They also matched responses given by subjects who were shown the sites for longer.

The author, Gitte Lindgaard, said the findings, published in the latest issue of the journal Behavior and Information Technology, had powerful implications for Web site design.

“It really is just a physiological response,” said Lindgaard, a psychology professor at Carleton University in Ottawa. “So Web designers have to make sure they’re not offending users visually.”

The results, however, didn’t show how to win a positive reaction from users. Source: SignOnSanDiego

[tags]information technology,web designers,first impressions,canadian researchers[/tags]