Overview

Given the amount of information available about how to create good graphics for the web, we expected graphic design to affect the usability of our sites. In fact, we originally thought graphics were one of the three most important aspects of web site design, along with content and navigation.

We know better now. Although we measured every aspect of graphic design we could think of, we found no evidence that graphic design helps users retrieve information on a web site. It is worth noting, however, that we didn't study the marketing effects of graphics. Nor did we look at whether they make people more willing to return to a site. There may be correlations, but we didn't see them.

Two graphics issues did surprise us, however:

• In the sites we studied, download time was not an issue.
• Users could not concentrate when there was animation on the screen.

The Role of Graphic Design

Conventional wisdom holds that more graphical sites will be more interesting to users. The more interesting it is, the more time users spend there and, therefore, the more usable the site. It's a nice theory, but as far as we could find, it has no basis in reality.

The Edmund's site a nearly "design-free zone" finished ahead of many of our more graphically intense sites such as Disney, Cnet, Inc., and Fidelity. Edmund's, as shown in Figure 7.1, is almost all text. The only graphics on the home page are three photos of books...