SpectatorBytes

Over the past few months, I have noticed a rise in large images are increasingly dominating the user interface of content websites, particularly news sites.  The Huffington Post front page illustrates this trend. Here is a comparison of the current front page (below left) versus the version when the site was launched in 2006 (below right).

Actually, it is not just about the growing presence of images but simply about the importance of photos as part of the Web experience. As bandwidth constraints have dissipated, Web designers and editors are increasing using pictures/images as a core element of the Web experience. While this flood of images is not surprising given the layout of newspapers and magazines, the presence on the Web and their ever- increasing in size signal a shift in the way the medium will look long-term versus the “link driven” layout with which we are familiar.

Images are an effective way to attract consumer attention according to Eyetracking studies. Consumers are also more comfortable with graphic-driven pages. Also, the bigger the pictures are the more time users spend time on sites. This trend is particularly important for advertisers. The new “Marquee” ad format launched by MySpace and that other large sites such as YouTube (below) are also selling is a good example of that.

The social Web is certainly likely to accelerate the change in look of the Web.  The “profile” image (a picture, logo or avatar) is becoming a key mechanism to aid people navigate through information on the Web. These thumbnails allow users to quickly assign different value to news headlines or activity “feeds.” Users can quickly decide whether or not to engage with content based on the picture to which it links. As the social networks extend their social graphs across blogs, websites, applications, etc., users will rely more and more on those pictures to travel the Web. The design of TrueSlant.com (below) offers a good example of this trend (I was an investor in and advisor to this startup).

Some search startups believe the role of images will be so dominant on the Web that they are creating alternatives to Google based on an image-centric paradigm rather than on “blue links”.  Searchme is one of those startups (see below).

Ultimately, pictures are a more effective mechanism to help consumers filter information on the Web, in particular when that information is being “pushed” to them.

Personally, I have to admit that the more pictures the better and the bigger the image the more likely I am to click through the article. What about you?