Godaddy Blur Test

The Blur Test: Go Daddy

The Blur Test is an old art school technique used to reveal a design’s focal point and visual hierarchy. Let’s see how Go Daddy holds up to The Blur Test.

Go Daddy’s Stated Purpose

Go Daddy is the world’s #1 choice for domains by providing innovative, competitively-priced products, delivering the highest quality customer service, and by always appreciating and listening to its customers! Its target audience is anyone who owns (or wants to own) a website or domain name.

Let’s see how Go Daddy Account Manager screen holds up to The Blur Test

Above is a blurred and non-blurred version of the first screen a user sees after logging into their Go Daddy account. The blurred version reveals how the large photo of the woman (Danica Patrick) is clearly the first thing the user sees.

From there, it’s a toss up between the bright orange buttons and the small photos of people below the buttons. Since we looked at the woman first, let’s say we look at the orange buttons next. One button is a large “Buy Now” button. The other is a “Search” Button. Neither button helps me with my account.

Since we know people are attracted to faces, let’s go with the small photos below the buttons next. Again, neither appear related to my account.

Next, let’s say we looked at the small photo of the man’s face in the lower right corner. Once again, we see that the face has nothing to do with my account.

From there, almost everything else carries the same visual weight and literally appears to blur together.

Godaddy Blur Test

Godaddy Blur Test

The Disconnect:

So, let’s look at the order of visual hierarchy and the immediate takeaway from each:

  1. Danica Patrick: Good looking woman – but clearly she has nothing to do with my account.
  2. Orange Buttons: Promotions for Go Daddy services – nothing to do with my account.
  3. Small Photos: Instructional videos – nothing to do with my account.
  4. Man’s Face: A promotion for Bob Parson’s – nothing to do with my account.
  5. My Account! A gray tab with gray text labeled “My Account” – I found it!

Does this visual hierarchy align with the site’s stated purpose? Does it appear that Go Daddy is providing the “highest quality customer service” and “always listening to its customers”?

Ironically, the primary issue with this design is not the actual screen design – it’s the fact that Go Daddy displays its public homepage after the customer logs into their account instead of the initial Account Manager screen.

Avoiding The Disconnect:

  1. Align user expectations with system actions.  If a user logs into their account, they will expect to be presented with a screen related to their account – not the site’s public homepage.
  2. People are attracted to people. If you don’t want your users to look a person’s face, don’t put a face on the screen.
  3. Perform “The Blur Test” again.