How users really use the web

In all the time I’ve spent watching people use the Web, the thing that has struck me most is the difference between how we think people use Web sites and how they actually use them.

When we’re creating sites, web application and apps, we act as though people are going to pore over each page, reading all of our carefully crafted text, figuring out how we’ve organized things, and weighing their options before deciding which link to click.

What they actually do most of the time (if we’re lucky) is glance at each new page, scan some of the text, and click on the first link that catches their interest or parts of the page that they don’t even look at.

FACT OF LIFE #1:

Users don’t read pages. Users scan them.

One of the very few well-documented facts about Web use is that people tend to spend very little time reading most Web pages. Instead, they?scan (or skim) them, looking for words or phrases that catch our eye.

The exception, of course, is pages that contain documents like news stories, reports, or product descriptions, where people will revert to reading-but even then; they’re often alternating between reading and scanning.

Why do users scan?

• Users are usually on a mission. Most Web use involves trying to get something done, and usually done quickly. As result, Web users tend to act like sharks: They have to keep moving, or they’ll die. We just don’t have the time to read any more than necessary.
• Users know they don’t need to read everything. On most pages, users are really only interested in a fraction of what’s on the page. Users just look for the bits that match their interests or the task at hand, and the rest of it is irrelevant. Scanning is how users find the relevant bits.
• Users are good at it. It’s a basic skill: When you learn to read, you also learn to scan. We’ve been scanning newspapers, magazines, and books-or if you’re under 25, probably reddit, Tumblr, or Facebook-all our lives to find the parts we’re interested in, and we know that it works.?

FACT OF LIFE #2:

User doesn’t make optimal choices. They satisfice.

When we’re designing pages, we tend to assume that users will scan the page, consider all of the available options, and choose the best one.

In reality, though, most of the time we don’t choose the best option-we choose the first reasonable option, a strategy known as satisfying. As soon as we find a link that seems like it might lead to what we’re looking for there’s a very good chance that we’ll click it.

So why don’t Web users look for the best choice?

• Users are usually in a hurry. Optimizing is hard, and it takes a long time, Satisficing is more efficient.
• There’s not much of a penalty for guessing wrong. The penalty for guessing wrong on a Web site is usually only a click or two of the Back button, making satisficing an effective strategy. (Back is the most – used button in Web browsers.)
• Weighing options may not improve our chances. On poorly designed sites, putting effort into making the best choice doesn’t really help. You’re usually just as well off going with your first guess and using the Back button if it doesn’t work out.
• Guessing is more fun. It’s less work than weighing options, and of you guess right, it’s faster. And it introduces and element of chance-the pleasant possibility of running into something surprising and good.

FACT OF LIFE #3:

Users don’t figure out how things work. They muddle through.

One of the things that becomes obvious as soon as you do any usability testing-whether you’re testing Web sites, software, or household appliances-is the extent to which people use things all the time without understanding how they work, or with completely wrong-headed ideas about how they work.

Faced with any sort of technology, very few people take the time to read instructions. Instead, we gorge ahead and muddle through, making up our own vaguely plausible stories about what we’re doing and why it works.

And muddling through is not limited to beginners. Even technically savvy users often have surprising gaps in their understanding of how things work. ( I wouldn’t be surprised if even Mark Zuckerberg and Sergey Brin have some bits of technology in their lives that they use by muddling through.)

Why does this happen?

• It’s not important to users. For most of users, it doesn’t matter to use whether we understand how things work, as long as we can use them. It’s not for lack of intelligence, but for lack of caring. It’s just not important to users to know how things work.
• If users find something that works, they stick to it. Once users find something that works for them-no matter how badly-users tend not to look for a better way. They will use a better way if they stumble across one, but they seldom look for one.

?It’s always interesting to watch designers and developers observe their first usability test. The first time they see a user click on something completely inappropriate, they’re surprised. ( For instance, when the user ignores a nice big fat “ Software” button in the navigation bar,?saying something like, “ Well, I’m looking for software, so I guess I’d click here on ‘Cheap Stuff’ because cheap is always good.”) The user may even find what he’s looking for eventually, but by then the people watching don’t know whether to be happy or not.

?The second time it happens, they’re yelling “Just click on ‘Software,!” The third time, you can see them thinking: “Why are we even bothering?”

?And its good question: If people manage to muddle through so much, does it really matter whether they “get it” ? The answer is that it matters a great deal because while muddling through may work sometimes; it tends to be inefficient and error-prone.