How Your Website Is The Preview To Your Movie
Have you ever seen a trailer for the up and coming next blockbuster. Oh blockbuster how the times have change, I think we need to refer to the next hit film as the next Netflix lol. Naw I’m not sold. I have to continue with blockbuster. Anyways I digress, as I was saying when you see the next blockbuster for the next latest movie to come out aren’t you intrigued and excited by the action and the story line all from a short preview that you seen on youtube.
Let’s just think about that idea for a moment. A movie trailer is only, usually about a minute to two tops to catch the viewers attention. Yet the process works and you have set in your mind to plan the next movie date with your friends or with your significant other.
It makes me wonder what is it that captures a viewers attention? Well it can be many factors that play a role, like action, emotion, drama, or the story line. It plays a part to the human experience all within a short span that entices you to start planning to purchase the tickets.
So how does this play a role for your website and the design of your layout. Well front end developers because with some these insights I believe it will help in better design for your next project.
Creating Your Trailer
So let’s start from the beginning. When you begin your next dev project, how do you usually begin. Often it’s with preplanning and knowing what the object of the overall site’s goal is. With that being said as a developer I believe it is high skill in demand if you can help in the design as well as writing the code.
Let me break that down a little more. The design of a site is not just how a site looks but the reasoning or the why behind why you chose how you made the decisions to develop the code in such a way. Another aspect I believe that is highly important for web developers and web designers is understanding how to market the product with the brand story. Every brand has a story and every product underneath that brands helps to share the message and your site is no different. In fact, it might be one of the most important. That is why you want to capture your audience instantly.
Fun fact: The attention of humans now are no greater than a goldfish, 3 seconds.
What this means is that you have a shorter time to impress your message to your intended audience. So, how do you fully capture your audience? Well I’m glad you asked and I think there is one aspect that will take you far if you can master this one skill…EMOTION
Emotion
How does emotion play a role in the design of your site? Everything! If you think about it emotion is involved in every decision, every thought, and literally everything that we do. You may not think so but I’m sorry but it is. From where you shop, to the movie you watch, and the home you live in. It all comes down to an emotion. So if you are able to invoke an emotion within the design you create it will create a meaningful impact.
Another fun fact. Emotion creates memories, and your emotions are triggered by your senses. For example, have you ever smelled something and as you inhaled the scent it triggered a nostalgic memory from when you were a kid, or rather, a moment that had you feel disgusted.
An even more relevant example since 9/11 just passed. Think about the day and what you saw. I can guarantee 9 out of 10 people can remember the exact moment of where they were and what they were doing when they say this tragic event happening before their eyes.
So if you noticed I said what you “saw”, one of the senses. It has now stored a memory in your mind and every time the day comes around an emotion is triggered and brings back the memory.
Now with this knowledge how do you use it for you web layout. Just think of what emotion, or better yet, what feeling that you want to convey and trigger when your audience visits your site. You then begin to plan and create a process, or what I like to consider a story, for viewers to follow along to help build on that emotion to create an experience in order to create a moment to create a lasting memory for the visitor.
As cliche as apple.com is for an example they are a great representation of this model in which is why they are considered one of the greatest designers of this time. Remember when I said design is not all about they way something looks but how it can create emotion. This can also go as far into belief. If you have an audience that stands for the same beliefs that your brand stands for it is much easier for a customer to buy in.
People desire to be apart of something great and never want to be sold to. Therefore creating the brand story is imperative to create the purpose of your design. That is why apple can sell a $1000 dollar phone and many have no problem upgrading.
Now Your Trailer
“So wait a second, your telling me all it takes to create a compelling story is emotion?” As simple as that sounds, yes. It’s not an easy skill but it takes a little psychology. We as people love stories. We love to tell them and we love to listen to a good story. In fact, over 60% of conversations are actually stories we tell each other. So the question is how will you tell your story.
Is your trailer action packed, is it serene, or is it a love story. Every element that you decide to implement portrays an aspect. From your header image to what the imagery you choose, and how you create the navigation of the page. Becoming a developer is more that just writing the code, I believe.
If you want to create yourself a valuable asset to clients and a company learning small tactics in the design process and how you represent them can take you a long way. So the next time you see a trailer ask yourself, “what emotions were triggered when you saw that video?”. Why were you interested in watching that movie when it comes out and it might help you point some things that will help you in the development of your future projects or even your portfolio.