Datasheet

DISTINCTIVE DESIGN
20
Being Consistent is Critical
Consistency is an important aspect of a web interface. With regard to your visitors and audi-
ence, learning new things can be a particularly scary idea if they are forced to use trial and
error to  nd what they are looking for. One of the main reasons why most websites don’t
have a totally di erent look for every page is that visitors need to e ectively navigate around
a page without getting lost (imagine the learning curve if every page is visually di erent).
Visitors often scan a page to proactively seek what they are interested in (rather than
reading a page in full, as shown in Figure 1-12).  ey are more likely to use a mixture of
guesswork and quick responsive selections to  nd the closest match to their needs. If they
don’t  nd what they’re looking for, they’ll return to the original starting page to try again.
 ey are even more inclined to guesswork in an attempt to speed up the results. Although
this erratic style of behavior may seem impossible to assist, clearly de ned, well-labeled,
distinctive layouts work wonders.
Figure -: As your visitors scan for specifi c keywords, their focus ignores what doesn’t associate.
If your visitors are fairly inexperienced with technology (as many Internet users are), they
probably depend on conventions or trends (recognizable objects on the page like naviga-
tion menus and clickable logos) to help them navigate around a site. Major changes
between designs or pages can therefore lead to widespread confusion. To quote Homer
Simpson, “In times of trouble you’ve got to go with what you know.”  at’s precisely what
users do. If they feel something is too hard or inconsistent (and you have competition),
they leave to  nd an easier source of information!
Important
Although it does not apply to everyone, the numbers of users who scan
information for relevance fi rst and read second are in the vast majority. This may
be related to the reduced amount of free time people generally have (though
research with exact fi gures is limited).
05_9781119992981-ch01.indd 2005_9781119992981-ch01.indd 20 5/13/11 2:13 PM5/13/11 2:13 PM