‍Ilona: Five seconds — that's how much time you have to make a first impression on your users. It is in the course of these few winks that they will evaluate your product. I know, that sounds cruel. Therefore, today I will tell you about how to use this fact to your advantage.

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Why take a 5 second test?

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Ilona: This episode will be especially helpful for startups, as we will be talking about the five-second test. This is often Startups have to compete with a corporation. and they have to use non-standard techniques to stand out.

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How can we verify that our the brand stands out? Well, we can use five seconds for this test.

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‍Radek: Hi. That may now be some facts about why this test might be authoritative and important?

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Ilona: Studies say that users when visiting our site read about 28% of all the content that is written.

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‍Radek: No wonder. Hi. That may now be some facts about why this test might be authoritative and important?

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Ilona: They just scan the content. The second thing that confirms in some way the validity of taking the test 5 seconds, it is that on average users spend between 10 and 20 seconds on a page.

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And that's not the data that I just came up with, it's the data that came from the website Nielsen Norman Groupfrom a very valuable source. And why are we laughing? I don't think we should, but we laugh a little...

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‍Radek: No, it is very important to provide data. obviously most of our material is supported by data. Sometimes we do not give them due to the fact that...

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Ilona: But you will see most of it in the description, in the sources on our site.

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‍Radek: But you won't see them, for example, on our çîrokthat we throw in where we don't actually give those sources. However, this is important.

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Ilona: Sometimes there will be a comment under our shorts or under our story, And how do you know that? Well, we encourage you to enter the podcast page, there all the sources are linked.

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‍Radek: Exactly.

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Ilona: But a little laughs aside and I would like to... I know, don't look at me like that anymore. Radek looks at me like this, because we are about to do something that Piotr, our cameraman, has no idea about.

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I want to do live here five second test. But to do that, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave.

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‍Radek: Yes, because you will also take this test.

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Ilona: You will be our respondent.

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‍Radek: Yes, you will be here.

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Ilona: Yes, you need to leave for a while.

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‍Radek: Well, bye.

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5 seconds test in practice

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Ilona: Okay. We will now do a live five-second test. I'll show Radek two websites. For five seconds, first one, then another, and I'll ask him some research questions. I'll show you what such a test can look like under controlled, laboratory conditions.

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And then we'll bump it up against someone who's not a UX/UI designer, which is Peter, our cameraman, who just left the room right now to not hear what Radek is saying.

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5 second test - designer answers

Ilona: Okay, Radek, I'll ask you. I'm sending you a link now. It is the same as in the research. Please tell me, did this link reach you?

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Radek: I have.

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Ilona: Now I'm going to ask you to click, and I'm counting down the time.

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Radek: I'll tell you when the page loads.

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Ilona: Okay.

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Radek: Already.

‍[Countdown 5 seconds with stopwatch]

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Ilona: End of time. Turn off the page. Tell me, What did you remember from this page.

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Radek: Primarily I remembered the drive-through. So, probably, the service that this site sells deals with systems that help handle such a drive-through service, that is, ordering food in the car, in a restaurant.

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Ilona: My second research question was what service does this company offer, but its You answered the first question., which shows that this test is real because you have not seen these questions.

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And I know you haven't seen this site before, because you probably didn't expect us to do such a test at all. Okay, good. Now the other side. Please open the other side.

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Radek: Already.

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[Countdown 5 seconds with stopwatch]

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Ilona: Okay, thank you. What did you remember from this page?

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Radek: That this is a site targeting its services for overweight gentlemen, or just big gentlemen. And it concerns meditation.

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Ilona: What kind of service do they offer?

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Radek: Meditations. Some kind of meditation class or something.

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Ilona: Okay. Okay.

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Radek: Is it now... Call Peter?

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Ilona: Yes. Now call Peter, just please, open the tab.

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RadekI can instruct him here.

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Ilona: A, you will serve it. Good.

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Radek: Peter!

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5 second test — answers from a person not related to UX/UI

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Ilona: Good. Then we'll see what the other person says. We invite you. There is no pressure. Radek, please help. And tell me, when the page loads, I'll turn on the timer.

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Peter: And what am I supposed to do?

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Ilona: The instruction is like this. Radek will show you a website in a moment, which I will ask you to look at for five seconds. After five seconds I'll say stop, Radek will shut down this site and ask you two research questions.

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All right, it's a start.

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[Countdown 5 seconds with stopwatch]

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Good. Tell me what you remembered from this page.

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PeterI'm sure there was a movie going on. There was a car. There were a few buttons on the top, Contact Us. There was a big inscription that I read, but I can't remember anymore. And I don't know if I remembered anything else. I didn't remember much at all. Five seconds isn't a lot.

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Ilona: Okay, cool. Already these conclusions suggest themselves. What service do you think this company offers?

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Peter: I was associated with energy in the beginning. Or with the car, because there was something with the car.

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Ilona: Okay, great. Okay, now let's move on to the other side. Okay, energy or automotive and some car...

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Peter: This car steered me a lot.

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Ilona: Okay, Radek, are we ready? Okay, here we go. Tell me when to start the timer.

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[Countdown 5 seconds with stopwatch]

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Ok. Thank you. Tell me, what did you remember from this page?

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Peter: Fell's logo, I think. Medication for fat guys. Big guys. And that you can do a quiz, at the top right. And there was such a fat guy in the graphics. That's about as much as I remembered. But also I think I need to remember as much as I can nowSo maybe that's why...

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Ilona: Okay, I get it. Tell me, what kind of service do you think this company offers? A product, a service?

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Peter: Well, some kind of diet service, right? Some kind of weight loss.

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Ilona: Okay, thanks a lot.

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Peter: Thanks.

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Test 5 seconds — result

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Ilona: Wow, now I'll tell you what it was about. The first website I showed Radek and Piotr is presto.com. This is a company that offers drive-through software services.

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So Radek, you remembered that there was a car there, you remembered this drive-through and quickly understood what this concept is about. Interestingly, Peter remembered the car.

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There was actually a video of the car in the background and it would seem that maybe it is some energy service or just something related to the car. On the other hand, there were drugs.. It wasn't meditation. It wasn't a diet.

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Radek: Maybe I read it wrong. Medication probably was, but I read meditation.

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Ilona: but you both understood that this is related to obesity. In fact, there was a fatter gentleman on the homepage, whom you called a teddy bear. Next to it were drugs, so you could theoretically guess that this is some kind of medicine.

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You both caught the basic concept, but you didn't quite understand that this is really a drug, not a diet service or something. Thank you very much.

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Benefits of the 5 second test for startups and more

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Ilona: The conclusions suggest themselves. 5 seconds is very little time. The homepage should not be overloaded. We have a specific window where we can tell what we are about, interest our recipient and make them stay with us for longer.

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If this upper part is overloaded or the graphic part does not support this text part, or this The text part will be too long, we have no chance of success in the five-second test.

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But thanks to the fact that we do such a test, we can find out what is wrong with our site and which way we should go in order to experience, improve brand memorability.

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Radek: I have the impression that Startups that launch a new service or they want to promote it, they should especially pay attention to the five-second test when it comes to landing pages that collect traffic from the Internet and refer to the Apple Store or other stores.

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It is crucial to Get to the right person right away — say, “Yes, this is for you.” For example, if you are an overweight person, then this product is for you, or if you run a restaurant and offer a drive-through, you need to immediately understand that we have something for you.

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Another thing is a quick handover, how do you stand out, what do you offer, what problem do you solve. Sometimes it is difficult to show, but the five-second test allows us to verify that we are on the right track.

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Ilona: Sometimes we wonder ourselves, we create several versions, we err and we do not quite know which version should come out live. The five-second test helps to make a decision.

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Yes, its organization requires some effort, but just showing the page to six, seven people for five seconds and asking a few research questions is not that complicated, such as conducting usability tests or conducting in-depth interviews.

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I asked two questions today, but we can ask four, five, six. We can afford it. Startups in particular should invest in this type of researchbecause they allow you to quickly get valuable feedback.

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5 second test — user path optimization

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Radek: Maybe five seconds is a bit of an extreme, and it can actually be difficult because, as Nielsen's research shows, people often stay on the site a little longer. But despite this it would be nice to win those five seconds — set it as a design goal for our website or landing page.

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When is it best to use it? What are these situations?

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Ilona: I would distinguish three situations. First, when we have product or service website and we want to verify it. Secondly, when we have landing page for a marketing campaign and we want to test its effectiveness.

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Third, when we are during the implementation of the project and, for example, our stakeholders can't decide which way to go — then we can run a test on mock-ups to provide them with arguments.

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Persona Optimization

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Radek: I imagine a five-second test would be ideal if we're running a campaign that generates traffic to a landing page promoting a product, such as a download from the Apple Store.

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It is important how quickly and accurately we determine, who is it for We need to clearly address the person. Secondly, we should make it clear, what problem do we solve, for example, treatment of obesity. And thirdly, we have to show How we differ from the competition — for example, by a unique way of acting, like quizzes or special medications.

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Those five seconds, while it may seem hardcore, often determine whether a persona perceives it to be something for them. If the message is unclear, such a persona will close the page, maybe even before those five seconds have elapsed. That's why we do this test — to see if we can attract attention, even in such a short period of time.

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How much is the customer willing to pay?

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Ilona: Yes, so if you are interested in which part of your website attracts attention, this will be the perfect test. If you want to see where users place your product at a cost, this will also be an ideal test, because it is such a first impression.

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Radek: So you just show for five seconds and ask if it's expensive or not?

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Ilona: Of course, not literally. In a very simplified way, the answer is yes. As I would technically do, we're kind of getting behind the scenes of our day-to-day work, but this is a very substantive episode, so I think I can share that.

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This can be done in two ways. The first way is just ask about the price, how much it costs. Not even saying whether you can afford it or not. Just ask how much it costs. And the other cool way that our mentor Aga Sixes taught us is ask for a reference to brandsthat is known. Which are in such, you know...

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Radek: Is this Gucci? Is this PEPCO?

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Ilona: Yes, exactly. We have different logos printed and ask where our site fits in the price area of these two brands.

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Radek: Printed?

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Ilona: They remind me of the old days when online tests were not yet so popular. But yes, I mean our favorite brand exercises. Such a test perfectly shows on which price shelf users place us, what first impression the product makes if we want to check it. And above all, which information is most noticeable.

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What Peter remembered during the test was a quiz on the page. But are we sure we want the quiz to be what users will remember? Maybe yes, maybe not — it depends on the strategy of the site. The five-second test will answer this question.

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The 5 second test — an addition to other activities

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Ilona: It is worth adding here that UX specialists often emphasize that the five-second test is very helpful and fast, Especially if you want to verify something quickly.. But we can't treat him like an oracle.

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We never approach it like, “Five people have said something for five seconds, so we close the topic.” Rather, it is an additional piece of research that gives clues as to which direction to go.

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Therefore, I appeal not to treat it as a final verdict, but as a tool Fast verification, especially for startups.

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Radek: That's right, such a test can help us take a direction when making changes. It is known that people do not come to the site from nowhere - they are already at some stage of the marketing funnel, they have certain knowledge.

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Nielsen Group research shows that users typically stay on the site for more than five seconds. The five-second test is such an extreme scenario, but its purpose is indication of what catches the eye.

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It may be that people pay attention to the quiz, and yet in our marketing funnel, we say to them, Hey, here's a weight-loss product, man. Here you have a weight loss product that helps you do it in some super way and is, for example, for a subscription.

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So we add this information, there is always this funnel. So this person with some information goes to the site. So here too, as if you can't exactly rely solely on this test.

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Ilona: Exactly, and this quiz talk reminded me of the story of one of our clients. In their marketing funnel, the next step closer to the purchase was the registration for the webinar. If in the five-second test most users indicated that they see the option to register for the webinar and consider it valuable, it would be valuable information for us that it is adequately visible.

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summary

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Ilona: The five-second test is not yet a very popular method, so I wonder if you have ever heard of it. When working on the products you have participated in, such The test was carried out and what results it produced?

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If so, then jI am very interested in your experiences. Let me know in the comments on our YouTube below the video - I will be happy to read it, because I have the impression that this test can bring really good benefits, even though it is not widely used.

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Radek: Thanks for the conversation. I invite everyone to listen to the other episodes of the podcast. If you like them, give your paws up the so-called. I feel terrible saying this, but keep your hands up, upload our channel and invite you to the next episodes.

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Ilona: But energy. Thanks, hi.

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Radek: Hi.

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