• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer, August 13, 2014

According to a new study from Limelight Networks, Inc., the annual State of the User Experience Report that explores key trends in how users engage with digital experiences, performance is the most important expectation for digital experience and can directly affect revenue; mobile devices are becoming the primary web access point for consumers, who now expect similar performance from mobile devices and desktop browsers; and the value of web experience personalization remains to be seen.

The consumers surveyed ranked website performance (streaming with no buffering, pages that load quickly, etc.) as the most important digital experience by a wide margin, far ahead of having fresh and updated content, delivering a consistent experience on mobile and desktop, and providing personalized content.

Based on a survey of U.S. consumers between the ages of 18-54, who spend more than five hours a week online outside of work, website performance is critical to business success. If organizations want to win and retain customers, they must provide a digital experience that exceeds consumer expectations for performance, says the report:

• 52% of respondents indicated that a high-performing website (streaming with no buffering, pages loading quickly, etc.) was the most important expectation for a digital experience
• 60% indicated that they aren’t willing to wait more than five seconds for a webpage to load before becoming frustrated and leaving the site (just over 20% aren’t willing to even wait three seconds for the webpage to load before they leave the site.)
• Over 30% of respondents would leave and buy a product from a competitor if a website is slow

Delivering great website experiences to mobile devices is inherently more complicated. There are a multitude of considerations that businesses must keep in mind when designing and delivering experiences to smaller screens, says the report. This finding exacerbates the first trend, demanding that organizations implement strategies not only to handle delivering a high-performance website but to address mobile in particular.

• Over 50% of respondents indicated that most of the time they use either a smartphone or a tablet to access websites
• Over 85% use a mobile device at least some of the time to access websites
• More than 40% of respondents expected websites to be equally fast, whether on mobile or desktop

Many organizations today are moving towards creating a more personalized web experience. Yet when compared with the desire for performance, respondents ranked the need for a personalized experience last.

• Almost 40% of respondents indicated that they didn’t want a website to remember them from previous visits

Jason Thibeault, senior director of marketing strategy at Limelight Networks, says “… with the advent of faster networks, better devices and more choices… for consumers online… there’s little room for slow or sluggish website performance… performance is at the core of success for online businesses… a top priority…  the survey demonstrates… lost opportunity for poorly performing sites and… long-term impact that may have on their business…"

For more information from LimelightNetworks, please visit here.