The importance of visual aesthetics

I never realized how important the appearance of a website is. "The Role of Aesthetics in Web Design" article we read really made sense, I just never considered how important aesthetics are in web design. Whenever I look at a website, I don't consciously think about the design, but I recognize it and note it. If I don't like it, I tend to navigate away from the page. This rings true in the article discussing aesthetics. The expectations of users is something I think a lot of people don't consider when they are making a website. Organization of the aesthetic material is also important when designing web space. Not over-doing it is also important. Many web designers put too much into their site which overwhelms the user. Basically, there is a lot of thinking that goes into creating a website, everything from use and placement of visual aesthetics to the text within the site. This article really brought visual aesthetics into perspective for me.