Emotion vs. Function . . . Does Either One Win On the Web?

In an age where there is an unbelievable amount of content on the web, everyone is fighting to get their website noticed. Whether an e-commerce site, reference site or website for a brick and mortar business, it's tougher than ever to get in front of the consumer. Bids for ads on Google and Facebook continue to increase and there is more "noise" than ever surrounding ads and organic links. With all that noise going on, people and businesses should not only be concerned with being found but also captivating the consumer so that they actually pay attention and engage with their website.

Creating an Emotional Experience

In the Mashable video, Why Emotion Makes for Great Web Design, behavioral expert Kare Andersen

discusses the importance of connecting with the consumer on the web on a deeper, more emotional level similar to how you'd connect with them in person. In the same way people can be attracted in person before they really know that much information about one another, people can decide to stay on a website before they really scroll down or know all of the content they will find. After hearing two speakers talk about the same thing, it can usually be agreed that one can "say it better" than the other . . . well, one website can say it better too.

Kare Andersen’s theory that emotion precedes rational thought can and should be applied to the web design process. If a person or site can show that they understand another person's needs, they will create that emotional connection.  Andersen points out how a less intelligent but more likable person can get ahead. This is true in web design as well. Similar to how people can make you smile by smiling at you, your website can make someone happy based on the emotions it triggers when they encounter the site.  Because emotion can be a main reason why people connect with something, emotions triggered by a certain design should be taken into account when it comes to creating a website. The business or person that is able to bring about emotion in a user and wipe off the “screen face” they have from spending too much time on the web is going to have a better chance of keeping that consumer’s attention and eventually getting a new transaction or follower.

Providing a High Quality and Well Functioning Platform 

Design Thinking

While one must connect with the consumer emotionally in order to get them to stay on the site,they must also deliver quality content in order to keep the user coming back. Emotion may precede rational thought, but that doesn't mean that rational thought won't eventually happen, and possibly be more influential than emotion, after logical thinking comes to town. Designing a clean, attractive and flashy website might get you a "first date" with the consumer, but if you can't offer more than physical attraction, you might not see them again. 

In order to determine the best web design possible, it is necessary to consider the practical and analytical aspects of the desired message as well as the more intuitive and emotional aspects.  This entails a process sometimes referred to as Design Thinking.  A site that the consumer can truly connect with emotionally will also offer useful content in a way that is easy to digest.