Often when we are building a website for a new home builder client we are told that he wants it with a lot of photos and not a lot of text. Although we may agree with him, the real point of a new home community website is to interest prospective homebuyers enough so they begin thinking in terms of including this community in their potential choices, ultimately going to the sales office to take a tour and learn more about that community.
Skewing a website so it is heavily graphic and sparse on text, and the revsere, only demonstrates that the builder (or any of us) is showing a preference for one side or the other of his brain, and their preference is based on their preferred learning style, which is called “hemispheric laterality.”
In short hemispheric laterality is which part of your brain you prefer to use for absorbing and retaining information (your learning style). Although everyone is different in the degree to which they prefer one method over another, everyone does show a preference.
Just like our hypothetical builder client, who prefers graphics, there are people who prefer text over graphics and learn best if given words instead of images. And within each group their are sub-groups such as people who prefer pictures of things over people, or people who like to see structured text (i.e., columnar) versus prose.
Why is this important when designing a website? Well the theory says that the more you can present information to people in a way that makes them more comfortable and matches their preferred learning style the more information they will absorb, the longer they will stay and, as a result, the more buying cues they will pick up.
So when creating a website for a new home community it is best to keep everything balanced to reach the broadest possible audience for the longer time possible, and we are always mindful of the importance of hemispheric laterality.
Here is a simple exercise from CreativeThinking.net – Look at the picture of coffee beans below. A man’s head is hidden somewhere in the beans. Your challenge is to find the head as quickly as you can. When you have it solved, go to the answer here.
