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Boost usability by nearly 50%

Increase understanding, memory, satisfaction …

When usability guru Jakob Nielsen wanted to measure the effects of scannable web copy, he studied a webpage about Nebraska.

Scannable text outperformed
Scannable text outperformed dense webpages in one of the earliest studies on web writing, by Jakob Nielsen. Image by CarlosDavid

One of the original passages said:

Nebraska is filled with internationally recognized attractions that draw large crowds of people every year, without fail. [Last year], some of the most popular places were Fort Robinson State Park (355,000 visitors), Scotts Bluff National Monument (132,166), Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum (100,000), Carhenge (86,598), Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer (60,002), and Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park (28,446).

Not very skimmable.

So Nielsen rewrote the webpage, adding subheads, bold-faced text and bullets, among other scannable elements:

Nebraska is filled with internationally recognized attractions that draw large crowds of people every year, without fail. [Last year], some of the most popular places were:

  • Fort Robinson State Park (355,000 visitors)
  • Scotts Bluff National Monument (132,166)
  • Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum (100,000)
  • Carhenge (86,598)
  • Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer (60,002)
  • Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park (28,446)

Skimmable webpage: 47% more usable.

Then Nielsen tested both pages for metrics including:

  • Task time: the number of seconds it took users to find answers to questions like “On what date did Nebraska become a state?”
  • Errors, or a percentage score based on the number of questions readers answered incorrectly
  • Memory — a recall test asking such questions as “Please list any names of tourist attractions you remember from the site.”
  • Subjective satisfaction, or how participants felt about the site’s quality, ease of use and likeability. This was measured by questions like “How frustrated did you feel while working on this site?”

The result: The skimmable rewrite was 47% more usable.

Nearly half again more usable just by adding some bullets and bold-face? That’s a pretty good ROI on scannable copy.

How can you help people read your message faster, understand it better, remember it longer and enjoy it more by making it more skimmable?

Lift Ideas Off the Screen

Web visitors read, on average, 20% of the words on the page. But which words — and how can you put your messages there?

Reach Readers Online — our web-writing workshop on June 20Would you like to learn which words they’re reading, and how to put your key messages where their eyes are?

If so, please join me at Reach Readers Online — our web-writing workshop on June 20.

In this mobile web-writing workshop, you’ll make sure even flippers and skimmers can get the gist of your message — without reading the paragraphs.

Save up to $100 with our group discounts.

Register for Reach Readers Online — our web-writing workshop on June 20