News in View: Less is more in Web design

Peter Jaco, UK MD at Letsbuyit.com, has spearheaded a call for Web start-ups to keep their designs simple and central to the business side of ecommerce rather than rely on
gimmicks to drive traffic to their Web sites.

Jaco said Web design is an essential but sometimes underestimated part of an ecommerce strategy. The issue recently hit the headlines when analysts identified it as one of the root causes of boo.com's failure.

At the recent New Media Age awards, Jaco told silicon.com: "The control for a Web site should come from the marketing groups, the usability groups and the focus groups. The key to a good Web site is usability, engagement and retention."

Other delegates agreed. Helga St Blaize, communications director at Ace-quote.com, said: "It's got to be a collective decision - it's a marketing and business strategy thing as much as it is a technical thing."

While boo.com's site was lauded for its stylish design, its top-heavy technology made it painfully slow to use on all but the fastest Internet connections with many users getting frustrated and giving up trying to access the site.

John Browning, co-founder of start-up forum First Tuesday, said: "The technology is basically the stuff that goes wrong - you only really notice it when it gets in the way."

He advocated a "keep it simple" philosophy. He said: "The Web is a communication medium. The key thing is connecting people."

You can see the full silicon.com News in View programme in the Ecommerce Channel (http://www.silicon.com/a37851 ).