OPTIMIZING READER EXPERIENCES ONLINE

Hailed as the guru of Web usability, Jakob Nielsen uttered timeless words back in 1997, when he described how users read on the Web. “They don’t,” he said. A full 79% of users simply scan for what they need rather than read word-for-word. Why would this be? Nielsen gives us four good reasons:

• Reading from the screen is tiring, and about 25% slower than reading from paper.
• The Web is a user-driver medium. Users feel that they have to move on to the next thing.
• There's competition on the Web. Users wonder if this is the page they need, or will a better page come along.
• People are busy. They get email and voicemail. They get paged, and receive text messages. If what they need online isn't right there, they move on.

How best, then, to engage users and meet their needs? Must website content play second fiddle to bells and whistles in order to grab readership? Not really. A website may gain attention for graphics and design, but content is king and will keep users coming back for more. The information must simply (or not so simply) be packaged for a highly visual, user-driven medium. Here are a few rules of thumb from Sun Microsystems, Nielsen, and other sources on writing and preparing website content:

• Think audience first. What do they need to know or accomplish? What do you want them to do? A pharmaceutical company, for example, may need to host website information for both scientists and diabetics, so they need to offer pages and visuals that are geared toward both groups. This same principle should guide the development of all website content, from the pages that comprise a large professional site to one’s personal web pages.
• Put important information at the top of the page, in accordance with Nielsen’s inverted pyramid style. Conclusions come first!
• Don't frustrate the scanning impulse. Highlight liberally so your readers can pick out what they need.
• Yet, don't cater too much to scanning! Slow readers down when you can. Bullet points and lists help accomplish this.
• Use links to move detailed information onto secondary pages. Pages that are dense with text are better off as links. If you think your users are likely to print these pages out, it’s not out of the question to use a font like Times New Roman, which is more suitable for print than a website.

Writing for the Web is a bit different than writing for other mediums. You’re writing for an interactive audience. Give them opportunities to interact. Posting print materials as pdfs usually isn’t the best way to go. If you’re putting up an annual report, for example, consider what your users want to know. Write about those items, and then link them to their respective pages in the report. For more writing tips, check out Riches Communications and Jennifer Kyrnin's web article.

As for graphics, once again, let users be your guide. Firstly, decide if the visual is really necessary? If the answer is yes, then what do users need to know or do? If they need an overview, a picture can be most helpful, as we find on this page of Milton Roy's website. If, on the other hand, readers need to know how parts fit together, then using an illustrated cross section, a phantom view, schematic, or wire diagram should be considered. Graphs can be a great way to clarify and reinforce textual information, as we see in Milton Roy's section on metering pump characteristics. Finally, to show how parts relate to the whole, use an exploded view, cutaway, blueprint, or a photo of an individual part. Photos also work well if you need to show a pattern, as do videos and realistic drawings.

The long and short of it is to make readers the focus of your website. In so doing, you show respect for their time, needs, and goals--something we should all enjoy and aspire to!