First 2 Words are critical for scanning lists and headings
Here’s the latest snippet of usability testing from useit.com who tested how well users understand the first 11 characters of web site links & headlines
In a nutshell:
Lists are great for scanning and web copy and therefore used all over web sites (search results, category pages, news lists, blog lists, twitter feeds, table of contents, site maps, bulleted and numbered lists in content etc etc).
The research finds users scan and typically see about 2 words for most list items, approximately 11 characters.
The best links had these characteristics:
- Plain and simple language
- Specific terminology was used
- Follow conventions for naming common features
- Action oriented
- Show numbers as numerals in web text to catch the users eye and get more into the headline and links
The worst links had these characteristics:
- Generic, bland words
- Made up words or terms were used
- Start with waffle
SEE the full article: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/nanocontent.html
