The very success of capitalism and mass production is a testament to the fact that people have a great deal in common. Human beings have the same basic needs. Sure, there are differences here and there but we are all driven by the basic issues.
A study for web behavior that took place in more than 35 countries in the last five years, done by web professionals, found the same basic challenges come up again and again. Looking at these studies you can see the same basic pattern.
Everywhere this study was done it came back with the same answer to the most important question: What is the one word that describes people on the web?
IMPATIENT
The Web delivers maximum value when there are clearly defined, common tasks. The best web business model is one in which lots of people want to do the same thing over and over again. It’s as simple as that. Look at Google, Skype, Amazon, Bing. What makes their websites successful? The fact is that they have identified common tasks and created very streamlined, rule-based processes to manage them.
But is the Web ready for an emotional branding as a result of deep interactivity? Does it have the vast potential it needs? There is indeed an emotion that dominates on the Web. It is found it all over the world. This emotion is called:
CHEAPNESS
People are cheap on the Web. They want deals and special offers They want stuff for really cheap prices, even for free. The common factor on the Web now, all over the world, is cheapness.
Please don’t think about your website from the point of view of emotional branding. Don’t fall into the trap of designing for exceptions. Please, never convince yourself with this vague, meaningless statement: “People come to our website to find information.” NO THEY DON’T.
Your website should be standard in both its design and its processes. If you want to really do emotional branding on the Web, give stuff away for free. Or better, provide genuine support that quickly helps people solve problems.
Treat your website as a basic, lean, mean, self-service machine. Seek to maximize the value from your website. You can do this by identifying the most important tasks of your most important customers and by relentlessly focusing on these tasks.
Most websites face the same basic problems, for which there are the same basic solutions. There are now solid rules for managing websites. The first one is: Design for what is common, for what is effective, not for what is exceptional.