Some slightly flawed research here indicating that people make up their minds about the quality of a website in 50 milliseconds (1/20th of a second).
The research was conducted by flashing a page in front of a user for 50ms and asking them to rate it in terms of aesthetic appeal. Apparently, the results correlated well with ratings given by people who had longer to assess the site.
The conclusion was that people make their minds about the quality of sites in 50ms. The conclusion should have been that if put under pressure to do so, people can accurately assess a site's quality within 50ms. Whether people actually do so in everyday surfing is a different matter.
Anyway, the research rightly points to the fact that first impressions count for a lot, and suggests that these impressions have a lasting impact. I wonder whether the 50ms rating of this site would match the impeccable quality that regular users have become accustomed to.
