Rules Are Meant To Be Broken

Why 8 seconds may not be long enough…

The web world has accepted as conventional wisdom that a fast page load is 8 seconds. While this is a good rule of thumb, following it slavishly without considering or understanding a specific customer's needs may prove to be a serious mistake.

The "8 second" rule makes perfect sense in the introductory and/or navigational pages of a site however, once you have pushed below the site surface, further consideration of form and function must be made. If a site section specifically intends to provide a rich and full experience, 8 seconds may short-change the visitor experience, with much of the flavour and depth required for a fulfilling site visit being sacrificed.

Finding a good balance in download times requires an acute understanding of what consumers are looking for in the site content, what their needs are and at what point they will need more information.

Imagine that you have a new online service with an 8 second page. That page would give you lots of text and a few small images. However, you may be selling to customers who already know the basics and will be going online to get an in-depth explanation of the service or technical diagrams of the product. Alternately, you may be wanting to promote your service to a marketplace that knows nothing about you and may require extensive orientation and someone to help lead them through the jargon. In this case, a rich guided tour would make sense.

Scenarios such as these would be difficult to achieve in an 8 second load time. Yet in both cases you have customers who would be prepared to wait to get the information they were seeking. The $64000 question is, "How long is too long?". The answer must be sought through factoring of the target market, product appeal, the complexity of product selection processes and prior customer tracking.

The key issue to remember is that a customer will remain attentive until they are either fully sated, or completely frustrated. No matter whether the customer is frustrated or satisfied the result is the same - they switch off. But if they were satisfied, they may return and explore further, consume more... if they were frustrated, you will never see them again.

Understanding consumer expectation and behaviour is not an exact science, however asking these few basic questions will go a long way to forming a solid framework -

1. Did the experience live up to the consumer's perceived expectations?

2. Did the experience provide "next step" options for the consumer?

3. Did the experience empower the consumer?

4. Did the experience communicate values?

5. Did the experience create a reason for moving forward?

Is 8 seconds long enough to provide your specific site experience? In most cases the answer will be yes but don't be afraid to say no. Break the rules if you believe your customer expectation warrants it.

Mark Bergin (Managing Director, Thinking Internet Management)