The"7-minute rule" in website design

As a website designer, you want to make sure that your designs engage and captivate your audience. But how much time do you have to do this? It turns out, you have less than 7 minutes. That's right, the average amount of time a user spends on a website is less than 7 minutes. In this time, it's important to make a lasting impression and keep the user engaged. Here are some tips on how to do just that.

Understand the Brain

As designers, we need to understand how the brain works when it comes to viewing a website. People have three brains: the new brain, the mid-brain, and the old brain. The new brain is responsible for consciousness, reasoning, and logic. The mid-brain is responsible for emotions. And the old brain is used for survival. When designing a website, it's important to consider these three brains and how they interact with the design.

Use Faces and Sound

People are hard-wired to pay attention to faces, so using faces in your website or application can form a bond with users. Loud noises startle people, so using sound in your application can get the attention of the user. But be careful, too much noise can be overwhelming and turn the user off.

Gamification and Habit Formation

Psychology tells us that people are more motivated when they are very close to reaching their goal. This can be implemented into an application by gamification. And did you know that it takes 66 days to form a habit? If you want people to commit to using your website, you need to get them to commit to something small first, like giving their email address to access a PDF or something.

Interactive Experience

A website should interact with the user in the same way social interactions do. Think of a website as a billboard, as people tend to scan through websites. And if the text on your website is too small, users have to squint to read the content, making them frown and inducing feelings of anger or sadness.

In conclusion, it's important to understand the brain and how it interacts with websites. Use faces and sound, implement gamification and habit formation, and create an interactive experience. Remember, you have less than 7 minutes to make a lasting impression, so make it count!