Diverting from the flow
People always love their comfort zone. It’s evident to you every day if you use the internet; web sites usually use the same basic principles: underlined/different-colored links, an image at the top of the page that links back to the home page, etc. But when a web site makes the links the same color as the rest of the text on the page, how easy is it going to be for you to navigate around? Furthermore, how long are you really going to stay on that site? Things that appeal to the broadest audience are ones that use an already established method; ones that people already know.
Unfortunately, when a bold step is taken to go away from the norm and try to improve these already familiar ways, it can be drowned out and left unnoticed by people’s natural tendency to resist change. I’ll start with a big one, the very basic for anyone who is reading this right now: Web Browsers. Obviously, Internet Explorer would be considered the “norm” here. Many average internet users haven’t even heard the words “Firefox” or “Opera” (and would associate them to browsing the internet). But when you compare the advantages of a “different” browser like Firefox to the likes of Internet Explorer (CNET did just that), it’s a wonder more people aren’t using it.
Next week: Diverting from Myspace ..to Facebook
