List most-used choices at the end of the drop-down menu When searching on a drop-down menu, Web visitors should either: Start at the top and move linearly down to the bottom of the menu (EPIC model) Randomly search the menu (ACT-R model) Or so say classic models of cognitive processing. How visitors view drop-down menus In reality, Web visitors do neither. Instead, … [Read more...] about Bottoms up
Reach readers online
Clicking takes a counterpunch
Communicators slug it out for scrolling The latest brawl in Web design pits the Scrollers against the Clickers. Clickers argue for: More, shorter Web pages Clicking to and between those pages vs. scrolling down longer ones Putting the most important messages above the fold. (The fold: the bottom of the first screen of the Web page, wherever that may be depending … [Read more...] about Clicking takes a counterpunch
Why be interesting on Twitter?
Entertaining content is the No. 1 thing people share Want to write tweets that get retweeted? Make them interesting or funny or both. Those are two of the top three reasons people share content, according to Chadwick Martin Bailey: Because I find it interesting/entertaining: 72% To get a laugh: 58% Because I think it will be helpful to recipients: 58% Tweet … [Read more...] about Why be interesting on Twitter?
Don’t ‘engage in the conversation’
More '@' replies = fewer followers How can you expand your reach and influence on Twitter? "Engaging in the conversation" isn't the answer. In a 2011 study, HubSpot viral marketing scientist Dan Zarrella looked at a random selection of more than 130,000 Twitter users. He found that the more often users reply — that is, send a tweet that starts with an @ sign — the fewer … [Read more...] about Don’t ‘engage in the conversation’
Do they see what you see?
Put like things together to avoid online tunnel vision Web visitors don't see things that are right on the screen. Selective attention makes them overlook elements that are outside their focus of interest. Or so says Jakob Nielsen, usability guru and principal of the Nielsen Norman Group. Tunnel vision in action In one study, Nielsen's group tested the website of … [Read more...] about Do they see what you see?