Circle, triangle, square… which do you prefer?

I found an interesting article (thanks Molly) on a study done at the University of Glamorgan, comparing the aesthetic differences inherent in the design created by men versus women. Some of the conclusions are no big surprise, regardless, it is interesting that more and more often now, universities are getting interested in the underlying dynamics of the intarweb. It seems like the days of "hey look it’s Flash – ain’t it cool" are long gone and folks are trying to get at the psychology of what we like and why we like it on the web. Good. As a designer this kind of stuff will only help me do my job better. That way when Dale’s kid Nick comes knocking on my door in about… say 7 years, looking for a job – he won’t get mine. Although, not there yet, as the study states; "What we have found is that organisations are not considering how they can tailor their websites to appeal to their entire target audience. If this is true for education institutions, then it is also very likely to be true for businesses who are not attaining their potential because their website isn’t meeting the visual needs of their audience."This most certainly true for most of the work I have done in the past, although in my defense – I have never tasked with designing a site for women. Whew! That’s good. Because a great understander of the female archetype I am not. I will have to pay a bit more attention to these things in the future and see what I can do in my little realm to help create a more focused, user-centric design for our target audience. Take a gander, it’s worth the read