How people really use the Web

A little something for your webmaster…

Even if you don’t care to read through the entire text of Steve Krug’s excellent book on website usability Don’t Make Me Think!, you should at the very least read this one free sample chapter which summarizes the three “facts of life” of how people use websites.

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

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 vaguely resembles the thing they’re looking for. There are usually large parts of the page that they don’t even look at.

Is your band’s website designed to take advantage of how people really use the web?

One response

  1. This is why I only have one link…the order link. 😉

    Every page on your site should be designed to have the user do ONE thing. Order, sign up for a mailing list, etc.