Your website and Gen Y… a repellent or a sight to see?

I’ve been doing a lot of surfing lately - the kind that involves a plastic rodent instead of pineapple wax. I move pretty fast through my search results - my mind quickly deciding which sites are worth reading and which ones aren’t. That decision many times takes a split second. So I wondered…what makes the difference? What makes the site sink or swim in my mind? I would say that it has to do with my Gen Y mind.

At many places, the area that gets the least attention is the company itself. As a result, the website gets about as much attention as competitive knitting.

One of my professors, once said that Gen Yers can be some of the toughest critics out there. I totally agree. ESPECIALLY when it comes to the internet and things we (Gen Y) think we’re experts on. As a matter of fact, I just mentioned this topic to another Gen Yer here at work and she actually keeps a list of poor sites.

So, let's get to it… does your site qualify or disqualify your company in our eyes? Here is some website wisdom from a Gen Y mind...

Design

Flash is hot right now. A site with flash usually has some kind if slick animation that “creates” the site before your eyes. However, the most abundant kind of site has the traditional left hand side menu bar with the content to the left - and that’s okay! Many times they are the easiest to use, it's just the way you go about it.

1. If you do flash, don’t over do it.
2. A basic design is cool, but make it 2008, not 1998.
3. Make sure it’s easy to use, KISS (keep it simple silly)!
4. Little hidden flash animations can be pleasantly surprising and show attention to detail.

Pictures

Be careful when using stock photography! Dated stock photography is a hardcore Gen Y repellent. If it reminds us of our text books from elementary school, then you have a problem. Is the main picture of you modeling or looking pensive? Although you may have great bone structure, maybe you should consider something more realistic and friendly if you want to depict yourself or your co-workers.

1. Stock photography should be tasteful, up to date.
2. Choose real, friendly pictures if you want to depict yourself or co-workers.
3. Captivating photography isn’t hard to find, is there something that relates to your industry that you can use?
4. Don't go picture crazy and substitute pictures for necessary text in menus.

Music and Video

How many times have you seen someone’s Myspace and immediately stopped the music or turned the volume off? Music can be annoying if it doesn’t relate to what’s going on. But sometimes it’s essential to the experience – like a flash intro. The key is to make it easy to turn off within the first second or two. The absolute worst is when a video and music start simultaneously – you might as well play a tornado siren.

1. Music has a time and place, test it with people that will give you an honest opinion. Do you have a site intro that’s easy to skip? Music would go well there.
2. Listen to the song all the way through, make sure it doesn’t include anything that will cause you to loose your job or fire someone.
3. Don’t have a YouTube video and a song start at the same time, it doesn’t reflect well.

Some examples.

The Porsche website is an example of a good traditional layout that isn’t crusty and dusty.

Momentum Worldwide shows us what flash can do for you. Pretty neat huh?

Check the Nissan Cube site out…see the hidden attention to detail? Some of the pictures are like little hidden sites. We love these.

Is the BBDO site easy for you to use?

I think Scott did a good job with Catch Your Limit’s site. The pictures make you want to know more about these cool people.

Does this article directory site seem credible to you?

Any thoughts or awesome/funny sites you’d like to share?