One more example. For those that date or are married, wouldn't we all agree that the decision to choose a partner emotional first, logical second? Sure. Of course, this emotion is called many different names: love, lust, or maybe just intrigue. However, the key is that these are all emotions. Further, attempting to quantify WHY you love/like/have-a-crush-on somebody is nearly impossible. It's literally a hundred things at once.  Emotion is the result of a largely subconscious experience you have with a person, thing, or for our proposes, web site design.

Let me illustrate by showing a couple of examples. Below are two websites both selling what should be an emotionless product: carpet.

First we display a web site design that has a philosophy of logic/information first, emotion second. Look at the screenshot and observe the emotion that you have? If you were going to make a purchase of several thousand dollars worth of carpet, how would you feel making a purchase from this site?

Unemotional

 

Next, look at the Shaw carpet site. Clear and simple, it is geared toward emotion rather than information. They have a subconscious, emotional "hook". It can't easily be described, but it is very effective.  In the end, however, both of these sites products are probably nearly identical.

Emotional Hook

 

How to Create Emotional Website Design?

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Below I have three easy steps to better create emotion. It doesn't involve throwing out the logical or informational content. Rather, it is focused on emotion FIRST, logic SECOND. Put the emotional hook in, draw in the customer emotionally, then give them very easy ways to find all of the information they need to satisfy their left brain cravings.

1-  Your Home Page is like a Billboard.

Think of the home page like the cover of a magazine or a billboard. Too many times, we assume that people will absorb web site design like they read an article in a newspaper. Wrong. Web site visitors spend on average of less than 10 seconds looking at your home page. In other words, this is about the same amount of time looking at a newspaper in the newsstand, magazine in the grocery store line, or billboard on the freeway. Time is not on your side. For this reason, choose ONE main marketing message for your home page. Rather than a feature of your product, choose a benefit. For example,  if you sell carpet, rather than listing the styles and colors you offer, or the materials the carpet is made from, choose a one-line phrase that sums this information up as a benefit. Look at what Shaw has on their homepage,  "Carpet. Sink into the warmth and beauty of Shaw carpet, and bring color, texture and value into your home". Corny yes. Effective emotional appeal, YES! In summary, less is more on the home page. Just make sure you have navigational and "call to action" elements that will draw people into the informational side of your site.

2- Good photography.

Amateur photography = no emotional response, or worse, a negative emotional response to your product / service / business. Look, it isn't always possible within the budget to get professional photography. However, much of the time good stock photography along with great web site design can make up the difference.

3 - Design to your Audience.

Design styles are similar to clothing styles: audiences react emotionally in different ways to how somebody dresses.  We all dress according to the audience we are trying to connect with. If you're going to talk to the president of a large cooperation, you'll wear  a suit or other formal clothing. What if this guy was your laywer going to represent your bussiness and came dressed for court like this?



Conversely, what if this guy went to "hang out" at the mall with a group of 15-year-olds looking like this:



It's an easy point to make, but somehow we forget this principle when designing a website. If you are selling to teen-agers, look for a cutting edge, grunge, or hip design. If you are creating a cooperate website, it should appeal to somebody wearing a suite. If you sell to contractors, use design constructs that appeal to the design they are used to encountering within that industry. In short, the design should match the image of your company.