Improving the First Impression of an Online Scientific Publishing Service: A Usability Test

A study of the Human-Oriented Technology Lab at Carleton University shows that users form an opinion (first impression) regarding a new website in 50 milliseconds (Lindgaard et al (2006)). Furthermore, the Halo effect causes that the first impression will be transferred on the whole organization. For this reason, it is very important to optimize a website before one starts with marketing activities. There is no thing as a second first impression. In this contribution, we analyse the website of a new scientific journal. The usability test covers 2 areas: The layout and the functionality of the website on a variety of devices (mobile devices (Android, iOS), Macs, PCs with different browsers).