Throw rice to the pigeons in Trafalgar square, and they’ll explode if they eat it.
Pull out one of your grey hairs, and you’ll get two others replacing it.
If you’re cold, then drinking alcohol will make you warm.
All of us can attest to having heard myths like these at various times, and maybe we’ve even believed some of them. It seems like we need reminding frequently that you shouldn’t always believe what you hear. The same can be said of UX (user experience) in the context of financial marketing solutions.
Here are a few myths that we’re going to bust right now.
1 Your website visitors don’t “scroll down,” so keep your pages short.
This might have been true about a decade ago, but it’s certainly not true now. One study by ClickTale demonstrated that three-quarters of the surveyed users scroll down a page. In addition, 22% of these users go all the way to the bottom.
2 Every user behaves rationally.
Human beings are highly emotional creatures. They don’t tend to rationally analyse all the information on your website in a logical, linear fashion.
Financial marketing solutions will, therefore, recognise that successful UX is actually a mixture of aesthetics and usability. Stanford University reinforce this point. They state that 46.6% of users will emphasise the impact of visual performance when it comes to their experience of a website.
3 You should always follow the rule of 7 (+/- 2)
There’s a common myth that says if you add over 7 items to your website menu, then this is terrible for UX. This is based on the theory by George Miller, which states that people can’t keep track of more than 7 items in their short-term memory.
The thing is, there isn’t any research which proves this claim. More importantly, your users don’t need to memorise your website buttons. Rather the goal is attractiveness and functionality. This is what lies at the heart of UX for financial marketing solutions.
In other words, if a menu of 7+ items looks ugly or is difficult to use, then don’t use it. However, if you can make it satisfy both functionality and attractiveness, go for it.
4 Stock imagery doesn’t affect my UX
If we can make generalisations about human beings, one justifiable one would be that people love images. In particular, they love website visuals. If they come across bland, predictable stock imagery then they find it immensely frustrating. They view it as clutter, which encourages them to leave.
Financial marketing solutions should always emphasise the following: avoid ornamental graphics. They usually deliver more damage than good. Avoid “marketing” imagery, as people can identify them and really dislike them. Finally, ensure that your imagery transmits the right message which matches the idea.
