8/25/15

Jared Stevens
Research Paper
Web development is an ever-changing field. In order to have a successful site,
your site must stick out, be easy to navigate, and be accessible no matter what platform
youre on. Were in a turning point in the field of web design, where many of the things
that were formerly the norm when viewing a site, are no longer relevant or useful. The
recent need for speed in the world of web has created the need for adaption. If youre
site is not responsive, and doesnt load quickly, then youre in trouble.
As said in one of my articles Responsive web design is one of the most recent
trends that can help libraries meet their patrons high expectations in the mobile-first
culture of information consumption. (Bohyun, 2013, 1) Responsive design has become
a very important subject, but its not one a lot of people really understand. Just a few
years ago, it was very popular for a person to make a completely separate site for
mobile users. Though many dont know it, this is a thing of the past. No longer is it
efficient to build a separate site for mobile devices due to the wide array of different
phone/tablet sizes, and the growing number of individuals accessing the web on
multiple devices.
As said in one of my articles: Web design is a kind balance art. On the one
hand, you want the page beautiful and vivid, but on the other hand, you need it can
quickly be downloaded otherwise people will go to other sites, (Li-Zhen, 2015, 1). This
is what separates the good sites from the bad ones; an overload of pictures, videos and
text will not only slow down your site, but even turn many potential viewers away due to

an overload of content to look at. It has been said that after five seconds of waiting for a
site to load, the average viewer loses interest and simply goes somewhere else. This
need for speed has caused a lot of sites to move away from slideshows and videos, and
move towards large images with vibrant colors.
Weve come to a point where there are very clear expectations as to what your
website should look like and how it functions. Unfortunately this creates the issue of
making your site so that it doesnt look like everyone elses. As said in one of my
articles. The conscientious Web page designer is faced with a difficult dilemma. On the
one hand, there is the need to follow established best practice guidelines for design,
which impose a pressure for uniformity (e.g. Pfaffenberg, 1997). On the other hand,
there is the need to avoid accusations of plagiarism, which imposes a pressure for
individualism, (Martine, Rugg, 2005, 1).
A review of the literature on responsive design described how people view the
web, and how to build sites that correspond with todays standards. I researched
subjects such as current web design trends, responsive design, and how to make a site
easier to navigate, but I didnt want to just stop there. I wanted to better understand
what it is that the average viewer looks for in a web site, how they access the site, and
what they tend to do when they visit a website. Only by knowing this would a designer
truly be able to build a site that not only looks good, but functions in a way that meets
the needs and expectations of todays viewers. It doesnt matter how important a certain
piece of information is, if it isnt placed in a way that the average user is going to
automatically notice it.

To gather my research, I relied mainly on a survey, which I made and then

posted on my Facebook wall for my friends and family to take. When creating the
survey, I wanted to primarily target the average Joe, and find out what exactly they do
when they visit a website. I targeted my Facebook friends because there is a wide
variety of people young and old, and from multiple backgrounds. I didnt want to target
anyone in the design field due to the fact that we tend to look at things from a different
perspective, searching for things that most people dont. I asked questions about what
was important to them when visiting a site, how they access the site, and what all they
actually look at when viewing a site. At the end of some questions, I left a comment box,
asking the viewer to explain their answer. The survey helped me gather information
from people of all ages, to form a general consensus about what most viewers do when
visiting a web site.
To start my essay, I asked my viewer on average, how long do they wait for a
website to load before they move on to another site? Previously I had heard that the
average user waits 5 seconds before they move on. In my survey, that was the case
with only 17%, leaving 33% saying that they will wait 5-10 seconds, 42% saying that
they are willing to wait 10-20 seconds, and 8% that are even willing to wait over 20
seconds. Next, I asked when they go to a website, how many always stop and look at
the homepage versus going straight to what their looking for. 42% said that they do
sometimes; another 42% said they rarely do, leaving only 17% who always take the
time to view what the homepage has to say. Next I asked them what they prefer when
they go to a website in terms of text. Of my viewers, 83% said they preferred short and
concise text with plenty of imagery, the remaining 17% said they preferred a lot of

detailed text with some imagery. Next I asked them how they primarily access the
Internet. 67% of my viewers said they primarily access the internet on their phone,
tablet, etc. The other 33% primarily use desktops and laptops. Next I asked them if they
always watch videos posted on the websites they visit. Surprisingly, not one person
claimed that they always do. 67% said they never do, and 30% said they sometimes do.
I then asked them if a websites color scheme may cause them to come back or never
go back. 17% agreed, 25% somewhat agreed, and the remaining 58% just felt neutral.
Next I asked if a site has a slideshow, how many take the time to see all of the slides.
Nobody said always, then 50% said never, and the other 50% said sometimes.
The next few questions, I left a comment box, asking the viewer to simply explain
their answer. I started this series of questions by asking when online, how they prefer to
communicate. 8% prefer video, 8 % prefer imagery, and the remaining 83% said they
prefer text. One viewer said Communication should be clear and direct. Text allows
you to do that, sometimes imagery can be interpreted the wrong way. Next I asked them
if a website has a lot of text, how many take the time to read all of it. No one said
always, 42% said rarely, and 58 % said sometimes, if its important to them. As one of
my viewers claimed, No one reads contracts. Lastly I asked them is most important to
them when visiting a website. 8% find modern design to be most important, 25% care
more about imagery, and the remaining 67% find loading speed to be most important
when viewing a site. It doesnt matter how pretty youre site is if over 50% dont even to
stick around to see it.
Before conducting my essay, I thought I had a pretty good idea of how most people
view the web. Ive sat through classes, and seen plenty of websites that all are said to

meet the standards of todays viewers. Ive seen countless sites with a slider, a
homepage, videos, and paragraphs upon paragraphs in a about section. But how
many actually read this stuff? I understand what companies are wanting their viewers to
know, but how important are these things to the viewer? Are they simply road blocks
keeping the viewer from what theyre looking for? I conducted this survey to better
understand what is important and beneficial to the average viewer.
To start, I wanted to gather information on site speed. Not just how long someone is
willing to wait, but if they are actually benefiting from the things that may be slowing the
site down in the first place. To gather this information I asked the viewer how long do
you wait for a website to load before you move on to another site? 42% said that they
will wait 10-20 seconds for a site to load and 33% said that they are only willing to wait
5-10 seconds. In the grand scheme of things that isnt very long. If your account for slow
internet speeds, that site better be quick.
Videos and slideshows have become staples on the modern day website. But how
many actually view them on a regular basis? In my results not one person said they
always watch videos posted on sites, and only 33% said that they sometimes watch
them, leaving 67% who never even watch these videos. Only 50% said if a site has a
slideshow, they take the time to see all of the slides. These two things slow a site down
tremendously, and hardly anyone actually uses either. I was recently told by a teacher
that sliders have now become a red flag for companies looking to hire web developers
for this reason. In a society where speed is what matters most on the web, videos and
sliders are likely to become a thing of the past.

Secondly, I wanted to find out what exactly the average viewer does when they
go to a website. Whenever you go to a website, what do you see first? A homepage.
The homepage has been a long-time staple in the world of web development, but what
is its use, and does anyone really care? I remember making websites earlier in my
education, and having a particular instructor who was absolutely against homepages.
He always compared homepages to a doormat, just keeping the viewer away from
what theyre actually looking for. Considering speed is such a driving force, I asked my
viewers when they go to a website, how many of them always stop and look at the
homepage versus going straight to what theyre looking for. Only 17% said they always
stop to look at the homepage, which means that for the remaining 83%, the homepage
is just something else to skip over. Which I found very ironic because what do you
normally find on homepages? Some slideshows and videos, other things that most dont
care to view. These are three things that almost every site has, that most dont take
make use of. If a website wants a viewer to know something, theyve got to show easy,
quick navigation to get there. Even if a sites slider loads quickly, who really wants to sit
through the slides to see if its going to show them what theyre looking for?
In my survey I also asked my viewers how they primarily accessed the Internet.
67% primarily use their phones, tablets, etc. while only 33% primarily laptops or
desktops. This puts forth yet one more thing to consider. Not only does your site have to
be fast and easy to navigate, but it also needs to be viewable on any given device. Out
of the 33% that said they primarily relied on desktops/laptops, its pretty safe to say that
many of them not only have phones with web access, but use it often as well.

Considering that most phones made today have web access, the pressure is greater
than ever before.
Lastly, I wanted to know what was important to the average viewer when they
view a website. To gather this information, I asked the viewer when online, how they
prefer to communicate. A shocking 83% said that they preferred text over video or
imagery. At first, this kind of confused me. Earlier I had asked them if they preferred a
lot of detailed text with some imagery, or short and concise text with plenty of imagery.
83% said that they preferred less text with more imagery. After evaluating these results,
I came to the conclusion that most people want to be communicated with via text, but
they want it to be short and concise with imagery to back it up. Just imagery alone can
often lead the mind to wonder, but with strong text beside it, the viewer quickly receives
what youre trying to say.
In conclusion, the research I conducted didnt just give me tips and tricks on how
to make my site and other sites better, it showed me what people actually do when on
the web, so I can come to my own conclusions and begin to build the sites in a way that
supports the research that I conducted. At the end of the day, the web is built for the
consumer, in hopes to persuade them to buy whatever it is that youre selling. If it isnt
easy to access or navigate and visually appealing, it most likely doesnt matter what it is
that you have to say, theyll probably move on.

Sources
Websites Design: Trends and Examples. (n.d.). Retrieved July 19, 2015, from
http://www.awwwards.com/websites/trend/
This site highlighted the current trends in web design along with sites that have
put them to use. Getting to see these sites not only showed me what the current
trends are, but also what I need to do in order to keep up.
Medium. (n.d.). Retrieved July 19, 2015, from https://medium.com/
This site is just a site with anything and everything. But what I found useful in my
research were a number of different posts regarding web design. Possibly not
always the most credible, but gave me some different things to think about.
Creative Bloq. (n.d.). Retrieved July 18, 2015, from
http://www.creativebloq.com/tag/Web-design
This site had a tab where there was nothing but web design tutorials and articles.
They post articles quite often, so there was always something new to look at.
This was probably was one of the more beneficial blogs because everything was
centered on design and development.
10 Web Design Trends You Can Expect to See in 2015. (2015, January 2). Retrieved
July 18, 2015, from http://thenextweb.com/dd/2015/01/02/10-web-design-trends-canexpect-see-2015/
This source was a count-down style post where it highlighted the current trends
in 2015. Looking through this just helped me better understand whats going on
in the now.
Martine, G., & Rugg, G. (2005, July) That site looks 88.46% familiar:
Quantifying similarity of Web page design. Expert Systems, 22(3)
115-123
This article describe the similarity of many sites. By better understanding what
tends to make most sites stick in, you can better understand how to make yours
stick out. The author brought up a lot of points that I wouldve never originally
thought of.
Li-Zhen, L. (2015). Theory of how to design the site easy to navigate.
Journal of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Research, 7(3), 588-596
This article described the various techniques you can use to make your site
easier to comprehend and navigate. This is a highly beneficial source because
often times when doing a website for a business or company, they come flying at

you with all this information that has to be on there, and before you know it,
youve got a jumbled up mess. This article helps make the site concise, and easy
to navigate.
Bohyun, K. (2013, August/September) Responsive Web Design,
Discoverability, and Mobile Challenge. The Library Mobile Experience: Practices
and User Expectations. 29-41
This article talks about what is probably the most important trend in todays
world, Responsive Design. This article helped me better understand what I
should strive for, and a user expects when visiting a site on a mobile platform.
Having such a detailed article on responsive design really helps, because
responsive design isnt just a trend, its now the new norm, and it doesnt look like
it will be changing anytime soon.