Intros – Reason Why Not To
The web should be looked at not as a controlled environment but as an experience for the viewer. It is incomparable to traditional print because the user does not need to be spoon feed their limited options but shown the vast variety available for them to choose from.
An intro at the start of a website can be compared to making a child sit through a marketing presentation before entering a theme park. Yes, they may learn a bit about the park but it’s limiting there ability to experience the park for themselves. If most people were forced to do this then theme parks would be empty, people would just leave and not come back.
If during this presentation they were given a pass to leave before it was done [think skip button] most people would. Then why even have a presentation if you give an option to bypass? There are other ways to communicate this message [commercials, flyers, podcasts, etc.] without limiting your user’s experience and damaging their impression of you. If you can get better or even the same results without the intro then why have it? You can find other ways to communicate that information to the few who have stuck around for the presentation.
This is all assuming that people are actually interested in your website and its content. What if people are just surfing or more importantly are recommended to view it to determine if you get a job or not. I’ll use the same theme park analogy but what if you were a parent bringing your over excited children to the park. Would you want to sit through a presentation that you are uninterested in [while your kids are complaining] ? No, it would be in the theme park’s best interest to get people into the park and see for themselves what the park has to offer. Maybe there is a ride just for the parents, or a store for them to buy things, or maybe it will make them want to come back one day, even if it just keeps the kids happy the park is a success.
I’m not saying that intros don’t have their [limited] place on the web but why create them if it is keeping your viewers away from what they wanted, your content, where they can make their own choice.