adrian holovaty

November 5, 2002, 10:05 PM ET

Study links Web design with credibility

A new Stanford University study, "How Do People Evaluate a Web Site's Credibility?," concludes Web users are more likely to deem a Web site credible because of its design than because of its content.

That's right: In the majority of Web users' eyes, the credibility of the content itself isn't as important as the site's design. If a gossip-rag news site has a "professional," "higher-quality" or "pleasing" design, it could very well be looked upon as more credible than a more traditional newspaper site with, say, a bright orange, polka-dotted background.

Why? The study concludes it might have something to do with users' short attention spans and tendencies to click quickly without much thought:

If such rapid navigation is indeed the norm for most types of Web use, then it makes sense that Web users have developed efficient strategies, such as focusing on the Design Look, for evaluating whether a Web site is worthwhile.

Plus, it ties into psychology:

It's important to note that looking good is often interpreted as being good -- and being credible...This basic human processing bias -- "looking good is being good" -- also seems to hold true for evaluating the credibility of Web sites, especially since Design Look is highly noticeable.

Especially interesting is the study's analysis of news sites. It turns out users do not associate news sites' designs with credibility as much as they do with other types of sites, such as e-commerce sites. Still, 39.6 percent of the study's participants linked news site design with credibility; that's a significant number.