A recent study found that a usable site gives you an upper hand, though a well designed site takes the jackpot. The researchers at Wichita State University’s Software Usability Research Lab (SURL) confirmed earlier findings that first impressions can determine whether someone likes a site—even in the first one-twentieth of a second.

sites in study: www.australia.com and www.renttoownrealestate.com

good and bad design sites utilized in the study

Their study went on to prove that good designs are perceived to be more usable. They used two sites, one well designed and the other not. Both sites were altered so there were high usability and low usability versions of each. Then 160 users reviewed the four versions. The users rated the well designed site with low usability as being better to navigate than the ill designed site with high usability. Thus, high usability cannot overcome a bad design.

Want to get a full house each time you deal? Then hire user experience professionals with design and usability skills; they’ll make you royally flush with pride at their results.

the research: SURL or a better designed version at Human Factors International