1

Designing Web Usability:Writing for the Web

(see http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/writing.html)

John Morkes and Jakob NielsenINFO 654 – Spring 2007

2

How do People Read on the Web?

They don’t ! They scan the text.

How to write for the web?: Concise (58% more usable) Scannable (47% more usable) Objective (27% more usable) All three above (124% more usable)

3

Summary of Usability Studies Morkes and Nielsen 1997 Nielsen 1995 Nielsen and Sano 1994 Nielsen 1994

4

Content is King When asked for feedback on a web page,

users will comment on the quality and relevance of the content more than they comment on navigational issues or other ‘user interface’ issues.

Also, when a new page comes up, users focus their attention on the center of the window where they read the body text before they bother looking over headerbars or other navigational elements.

5

Three Main Content-Oriented Conclusions

Users scan, they don’t read. User do not like long,

scrolling pages. User detest “marketese.”

6

Customer Survey Quote“One piece of advice, folks: Let’s not try to be so gratuitous and self-inflating. Beginning answers to common sense questions such as “Will Sun support my older Solaris platform?” with answers such as “Sun is exceptionally committed to…” or “Solaris is a leading operating system in today’s business world…” doesn’t give me, as an engineer, a lot of confidence in your ability. I want to hear fact, not platitudes and self-serving ideology. Hell, why not paint your home page red under the moving banner of “Computers of the world, Unite under the glorious Sun motherland!”

7

In General

Web writing often does not support users in achieving their main goal: to find useful information as quickly as possible!

8

More Conclusions Web pages should employ scannable text,

using: Highlighted keywords Meaningful sub-headings (not “clever” ones) Bulleted lists One idea per paragraph Inverted pyramid style Half the word count (or less) than

conventional writing.

9

Example of Inverted Pyramid

10

Credibility is Important Often do not know who posted the

information Credibility can be enhanced by:

High-quality graphics Good writing Use of outbound links to (or

endorsements by) other trusted sites.

Endorsement links lend credibility

12

Overview Three studies – 81 users read web

pages First two studies exploratory Third study measures the potential

benefits of writing styles generated from first two studies.

Conducted summer 1997 SunSoft usability laboratories in Menlo Park, CA.

13

Study #1: Directed Tasks Users were taken to home page of a site

and asked to find specific information on the site

You are planning a trip to Las Vegas and want to know about a local restaurant run by Chef Charlie Trotter. You heard it was located in the MGM Grand hotel and casino, but you want more information about the restaurant. You begin by looking at the website for Restaurants & Institutions magazine at: http://www.rimag.com

Hint: Look for stories on casino foodservice

Try to find out:

- what the article said about the restaurant

- where most food is served at the riverboat casino

14

Study #1 Users wasted enormous amounts

of time trying to find the specific page that contained the answer to the question.

Even when on the intended page, they often could not find the answer because they could not see the relevant line.

15

Study #1 Findings Users Want to Search Waiting is Unpleasant Conventional Guidelines for Good

Writing are Good

16

Study #2: Exploratory Study of Reading

Users visited three pre-selected sites and performed assigned tasks that required reading and answering questions about the sites.

Participants were instructed to “think aloud” during the study.

17

Study #2 Task Instructions

Please go to the following site, which is bookmarked: [site URL]. Take several moments to read it. Feel free to look at anything you want to. In your opinion, what are the three most important points the author is trying to make? After you find the answers, we will ask you some questions.

18

Study #2: Standard Questions

What would you say is the primary purpose of the site?

How would you describe the site’s style of writing? How do you like the way it is written? How could the writing in this website be improved? How easy to use is the website? Why? How much do you like the site? Why? Do you have any advice for the writer or designer of

this website? Think back to the site you saw just before this one.

Of the two sites, which do you like better? Why?

19

Study #2 Findings (1 of 2) Simple and Informal Writing are

Preferred. Credibility is an Important Issue on

the Web. Outbound Links can Increase

Credibility. Humor Should be Used with Caution. Users Want to Get their Information

Quickly.

20

Study #2 Findings (2 of 2) Text Should be Scannable. Text Should be Concise. Users Like Summaries and the

Inverted Pyramid Style. Hypertext is Well-Liked. Graphics and Text Should

Complement One Another.

21

Study #3: Measurement Study

Users tested 5 writing style variations of a web site (“Travel Nebraska”), although each contained essentially the same information: Promotional style (control) Scanning Concise Objective Combined concise, scannable, and objective.

Promotional (control) version

Concise version

Scannable version

Objective version

Combined version

27

Procedure Participant began at “Travel

Nebraska” homepage and searched for specific facts.

Answered Part 1 of questionnaire. Find relevant information, perform

judgment task. Answered Part 2 of questionnaire. Spend 10 minutes studying website,

then draw structure.

28

Measures Task Time Task Errors Memory Time to Recall Site Structure Subjective Satisfaction

Quality Ease of Use Likability User affect

29

Normalized Results

Version Task TimeTask

ErrorsMemory

Sitemap Time

Subjective Satisfaction

Overall Usability

Promotional (control) 100 100 100 100 100 100Concise 172 205 142 124 156 158Scannable 157 273 94 130 133 147Objective 128 164 116 121 112 127Combined 242 818 162 142 122 224

Normalized mean scores for five major measures and Overall Usability. Scores above 100(the control score) are “better.” For example, the scannable version is 57% better thanthe control for Task Time.

30

Conclusions Scannable, concise, and objective writing

styles each make a positive difference in Web users’ performance and subjective satisfaction. Promotional writing, commonly found on the

web today, had much lower scored on virtually all usability measures.