I once gave a lecture to members of New Media Forum on Usability of websites. To illustrate the need for quick download of websites, I gave them this small exercise. I told them to take a deep breath when they type their website name and type enter. They are to let their breath out only after the page completely downloads. The more time the page takes to download, the more uncomfortable the members would become. ( possibly some with faces turning red and eyes nearly popping out ! ). That’s exactly how a visitor to your website would feel. Everybody appreciated this example.

But the sad part is if I had tried the same exercise with this website, I would have croaked by now ! Geez ! it took more than a minute just for this homepage to download. More than 10 times the preferred time limit. Damned f*^%&ing tables… they take ages to render. This needs a serious redesign.