This is a continuation from the previous post. More about “Elements of Effective Webpage Design”.
Now we are at Krug’s “Facts of Life”-
- Users Don’t Really Read Pages
Users are in a hurry with no time for analysis. Faced with a lot of words, users scan pages to find what they need. This is nothing new, readers have been using the same strategy with magazines, books, and newspapers. - Users Don’t Make Optimal Choices
Users are in a hurry, there’s usually no loss for guessing wrong, so users simply click around. If they end up on an undesired page, they hit the back button. “Many users find this strategy of trial and error to be exciting”. - Users Muddle Through
Users do not read instructions. They click on buttons until they find what they want or get frustrated enough to leave. Once again, this indicates the necessity to keep things simple and obvious so as not to lose users.
