How much do we read online?
When running IA sessions we spend a lot of time talking and analysing the client’s existing web site, exploring the existing information, analysing user goals and then we work out how the information should be cut down, regrouped, made more scanable and easier to read.
During the sessions I often get asked the question “How much do users read online”, I typically answer “not much – the majority of users read as little as possible to achieve their goals & answer their questions … users scan pages rather than reading them from start to finish…”
Jakob Nielson (May 2008) has recently undertaken more testing on how much users read online and found “On the average Web page, users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely.”
See: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/percent-text-read.html
So how much of this blog did you read? If you read & remember the bit in bold I’m a happy man and this was worth well writing on a Sunday morning
