Home pages are becoming redundant

Recent usability testing conducted by Mark Hurst boldly asserts that Google has made home pages virtually irrelevant.

The usability test was a little different to what’s typically conducted. Users were not given pre-written tasks. Instead, they were left to their own resources and experience. Some of the findings revealed that:

• Users prefer to reach websites through Google search results.
• Only a minority type the company’s home page URL into the browser address bar.
• Some users even preferred to search Google for the name of the company they wanted to visit, instead of typing the company home page URL in the browser address bar.
• Almost no one uses any search engine other than Google.

Of course, this only really applies to public websites. Intranets and web-based applications enforce a much more constrained pattern of interaction. But the conclusion from this test seems to match what Jakob Nielsen has been preaching for years:

The home page of your website is becoming increasingly redundant and what matters most is relevant content and simple design which meets the users goals.

Amen.