Another argument emerges for simple web design (see my previous post  Creating Your Web-Scape)  in Drake Bennett’s article on cognitive fluency, Easy=True. Cognitive fluency is  the psychological precept that “people prefer things that are easy to think about to those that are hard…In any situation where we weigh information, fluency is implicated in our decisions about everything.”

In a nutshell, when information is easier to mentally process, people feel attraction and belief.  The opposite,  disfluency – making things difficult to grasp,  creates a cognitive roadblock that makes people wary and uncomfortable.

While this might seem intuitively obvious, evidence abounds that plenty of businesses (and web designers) don’t get it.

Bennett’s article is a terrific resource for more information on fluency and disfluency and the supporting research.

For the purpose of this blog let’s take a look at the practical implications of fluency and  disfluency in terms of web design.  Keep in mind this is all based on research, not my own preferences.

Disfluency:the art of making things difficult -

Web Design that Loses Business

Here are some characteristics of a disfluent web site that will leave web site visitors with a negative impression.

Inaccessibility

• Unfamiliar words (for example, technical jargon and acronyms)
• Names and words that are difficult to pronounce
• Complex syntax
• Illegible text (see my previous post The Dog and the Lotus)
• Missing information or convoluted instructions
• Functions that don’t quite work

Sensory Overload

• Overcrowding the page
• Visual distractions
• Multiple columns of disparate text
• Little or no white space
• Flickering animation

Inconsistency

• Confusing navigation
• Poor organization

Fluency:the art of making things easy to understand -
Web Design that Encourages Business

Here are some characteristics of a fluent web site that subliminally suggest to visitors that your business is reputable and trustworthy.

Repetition

• Consistent navigation and page layout across the web site
• Artful repetition of key ideas(note: repetition is good, redundancy is bad – know the difference)

Clarity

• Legible fonts and color coordination
• Plenty of white space
• Language and syntax that everyone can understand

Simplicity

• Message boiled down to its essence
• Graphic design and content that are easy to assimilate (accessible) both visually and conceptually

Web Site Analysis: The Glass House

Let’s take a look at the web site for The Glass House and see how well it does fluency wise.

Repetition: The grey box is repeated throughout as the background to the title (I like the opacity that reminds us of the see through quality of glass), the background in the drop down menus, and the background for other important pieces of information.

Clarity: The site contains a lot of information,  notice how it’s been logically organized and categorized.

Simplicity: One column layout, plenty of white space.

Verdict: Fluency.  I’m convinced this is a reputable organization dedicated to professionalism on all levels.

Analysis by Smart Alice Web Design, smart web design for businesses who want a unique and effective presence on the internet.

UPDATE 1/26/10: The Boston Globe just published an article that echoes the opinions I expressed below. It includes the quote “Being charged $5,000 a month to manage the SEO process is crazy.” You can read the entire article at
In Web world, a successful marketing effort means gaining inside track on searches

Photo: from the Mel Brooks movie “Young Frankenstein”

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a big deal these days.  For anyone who doesn’t already know what it is, it’s basically doing whatever you can to make sure your web site shows up on the first page of search results given a specific set of words (keywords).  You can pay a search engine directly for this or you can contrive through content manipulation to make it happen.

Before computers, how did a local business get noticed? Besides the usual marketing activities, you could  list your business in the yellow pages.  Remember the days when businesses named themselves “AAA Roofing” or “AAA Mattress” so they would show up first in their category?   Marketing companies are charging big money under the premise that they can use SEO to do the equivalent of “AAA” for you on the web.

There’s no doubt you can artificially promote your site, but I’m skeptical about what works and how much it’s worth.  For example,  I was hired to write web page content for a business I’ll call The Widget Company.   What I wrote was then sent to a 27 year old vice president of SEO at a high priced marketing firm. (That a 27 year old could be a vice president should be the first tip off something isn’t right.)

To increase the probability the web site would come up first whenever a user typed “widget” on Google,  he stuck the word “widget” in front of every possible noun he could, usually creating awkward noun strings.  And stuck the word “widget” inside of product names, creating incorrect product names.  He also introduced grammar and spelling errors. For this The Widget Company is paying a retainer of several thousand a month.  Does anyone besides me smell snake oil?

Because The Widget Company is always running promotions of various types, there is no way to prove a cause and effect relationship between SEO and increased web site activity, in spite of the multitude of charts SEO people create to back up their claims.

But one fact is irrefutable – SEO did create awkward to read text that would have also made the company look like yokels if I hadn’t been able to go back and correct the bad grammar and spelling.

Why is The Widget Company paying for it?  There is one answer – fear.  The management doesn’t understand technology and this creates insecurity. And, as long as everyone else is doing it, they’re afraid they’ll be left behind if they don’t do it, too.

There are some common sense practices to follow regardless of SEO. You do these things because they enhance user interface design, impart information, and help people navigate your site.

• Ascertain key phrases to identify your business and message and use them strategically – in page titles and headings, for example.
• Write straightforward text and organize it logically.
• Present it with legible, user intuitive typography.

You can also artificially plug keywords into your content, but it probably won’t do much good.  Search engine companies are always rewriting search algorithms to ignore such tactics.

Lets do a reality check.  How many web sites are there in the world?  If you own a floral business, isn’t it sort of wacky to think you should come up on the first search page when there are 28,700,000 other florists out there?   However, Google is happy to list you on the first page when a user enters a type of  business and a zip code –   if you’ve included zip code/location information on your web site.  And that’s common sense, you shouldn’t have to pay thousands of dollars for it.

Frankly I’m skeptical of SEO and paying a bunch of money to snake oil salesmen preying on people’s lack of experience with technology.  Common sense, good writing, and strategic marketing along with intelligent web design should be all you need for visibility in your local market.

Commentary by Smart Alice Web Design, smart web design for businesses who want a unique and effective presence on the internet.