Intellisites, the smart choice for web design

I came across a couple of crazy videos the other day.  The first one was a recap of a study that showed just how little we really pay attention to details around us.  The second, which you can see below, is an interesting commercial that comes to a similar conclusion.

So just how out of it are we?  It’s actually pretty scary.  I mean, think about it.  How many times have you been driving somewhere and realized that you can’t really remember the last ten minutes of your journey?  How often have you found yourself sleeping with your eyes open as you channel surf?  We spend a good portion of our days in autopilot mode, and during those times, we’re not necessarily taking in everything we should be.

What does this mean for web design?  Well, for starters, we have to design websites that can be navigated through easily by the sleepy, multitasking, or just generally dazed web surfers of the world.  And what makes a website easy to click around when you’re out of it?

Easy Access to the Important Stuff.
When it comes down to it, there are only a few things we reeeeeally want our web visitors to do.  Buy stuff.  Call us.  E-mail us.  Maybe enter their contact information.  So the buttons to make these things happen need to be super easy to find.

Consistency from Page to Page.
If a visitor is happily clicking around our site and concentrating on the new content he finds on each new page, he’s probably not going to notice if our “Contact Us” button is on the top right corner on one page and the top left corner on the next. But if he thought he knew where it was and finds it missing when he goes to use it, he’s going to be angry, confused, or at least mildly annoyed. So keep those important buttons as anchors that don’t change location from page to page.

So keep your important stuff bright, bold, and in the same place and your web visitors will be able to find their way around, even if they are a little dazed.