I created a video presentation for this semester’s UX4Justice class, so I’m sharing it here along with an overview of the content:
Why it matters
The #1 reason people visit websites is for the content. They want their questions answered.
How people tend to read on the web
- Skim: They skim for headings and keywords, often in an F-shaped pattern.
- Hunt: They hunt for links and buttons that will take them to the right place.
- Muddle through: They try different things and often don’t take the path you’d expect.
How people might feel on the web
- Impatient: The first 10 seconds is critical.
- Distracted: They’ll often be doing multiple things at once.
- Frustrated: Bad writing can quickly cause people to leave.
Tip #1: Conversational. Speak directly to website visitors.
- Write like you talk.
- Use active voice.
- Use fragments.
Tip #2: Relevant. Speak directly to users’ questions.
- Define your audience for your website.
- Define your audience, page by page.
Tip #3: Focused. Prioritize and simplify your messages.
- Prioritize top tasks.
- Use the inverted pyramid.
- Keep things short.
- Simplify phrases.
- Remove the unnecessary.
Tip #4: Clear. Make your content accessible to as many people as possible.
- Avoid ambiguity.
- Provide help at the point of need.
- Avoid long noun phrases.
- Make links clearly links.
- Format nicely.
Tip #5: Organized. Use structure to facilitate navigation.
- Use parallelism.
- Use meaningful headings.
- Use meaningful link labels.
- Make clear calls to action.