Sometimes you see a link and you are dead sure you know what information you’ll see when you click on it – other links you just haven’t got a clue. When you are searching for information and have a specific goal the extent to which you can predict what you will find if you follow a certain path and links through a site is called the ‘Information Scent’.
‘Information scent’ is part of the information foraging theory which uses the analogy of animals hunting for food to ex plain how users interact with a web site.
In the same way that a hunting animal is sure that that following a stronger and stronger scent will mean that they find their prey at the end. Your visitor clicking through your site searching for specific information or with a specific goal will continue to do so if the information scent is getting stronger and they keep on finding links which take them closer to their goal.
This is why it’s important that the navigation is clearly defined, labels state what they will find, that the language is plain and easy to understand, and why its great to add trigger words as cues within your links – all to make that information scent particularly smelly!
Leave a Reply