Will they stay inside? Creating Visual Impressions

Images and design can elicit different emotional responses from people. These images can make people like or dislike, believe something is fun or more serious, and can even make someone trust or distrust a company or an idea. It can be difficult to tow the line between emotionally-provoking or bland images. So how does someone design graphic art for both?

Measurements to develop your baseline

Know your data – how long do your users who entered through a specific website door stay? Which type/segment of users are converting? What is your conversion optimization rate? What are the other quality metrics you use to measure your sites and your ads effectiveness? Once you have your benchmark established then you can evaluate the changes you make.

Some things to consider when designing and placing graphics on your website:

First and Foremost: Users do not stay at a site because it is pretty, but they will leave if it is ugly.

What emotion are you looking to elicit: Excitement? Trust? A bit of Shock?

People will associate things about your company based on your unique graphic design. Richly designed websites tend to make people trust companies, get them excited about your offerings and understand your unique selling proposition.

Always consider the impact of where you place graphic art; is it efficiently getting your user where they want to be? Would a different location on the screen elicit a better response?

The most interesting or noticeable visual element on your homepage should usually serve as one of the main purposes of your site (driving users to a specific product or your inquiry form, answering a specific question, eliciting an emotional response).

It is critical to update the look of your site every 2-3 years because it is easy to fall behind a design paradigm. If you redesign your website every few years, you can capture the best design elements and technology tools that other sites are leveraging for their potential customers. It is critical to update the look of your site often but not too often. You can often do this by simply changing the graphics and some colors without replacing all of the content. Phew!

Goals, trust and measure:

Of course it goes without saying: define and know your goals and your wins, striving for increases from your benchmark data. Next, trust your creative team to collaborate and try new ideas. Your ideas of the "best" graphics can be complimented by others experiences and others fresh perspectives. Then measure and make changes until you reach your goals.

As a custom software and graphic design company, our creative services team at Amadeus Consulting is concerned with these principles because we aim to provide you with graphic design services that have an impact for your user and for your bottom line.