Tuesday, September 9th, 2008...3:48 pm
The day when the web missed the road!
As a former advertiser, I have expressed doubts about eye-tracking tests. Then my position used to be : an advertising is a message, the place where the eyes watch will never indicate you what message the brain will remember. So I have never changed a word or a photo just to please an eye tracking test.
However, I think the eye-tracking test works better for an Internet page. An internet page is full of links, it is built to be a step in a path and, on the web, people are free to build their path. So designing an Internet page is the art of helping people to choose freely their path through information to knowledge. Taking the factor into account, an eye tracking is of great interest because it shows how a design can induce choices for people.
Here we can see clearly how “lists” design are irrelevant to distribute information equally. Lists, just lead people to a restricted choice. Whatever the reasons, we do not read lists we only pay attention to the top of it. We choose between three.
There is the issue. Never, in the whole history of humanity we have been that close to an unlimited access to information. How could we admit to be driven by this “list design” in the whole Internet? Information and knowledge helps us to choose better, to work better, to live better… Do we have to live that reduced by “lists” ?
One day, web leading sites has chosen this list design, that day they rebuilt a herarchical world.
12 Comments
September 9th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Well, as long as you’re one of the top three on that list, I suppose the “list design” works out pretty well. Perhaps they’re the ones who came up with the design.
September 9th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Sure, as long as you were king monarchy works out pretty well too.
September 10th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Fully agree! There is so much information and knowledge in the web but it is not organized in an intuitive manner. Lists are indeed very imperfect and favors the thoughts of the mainstream.
September 10th, 2008 at 9:55 am
@wallen’s : yeah but design is one thing, it is another to get a real vision about that.
September 12th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
This is a very interesting concept, and I think it’s great you use the eye-tracking tests. I’d never really thought about that before… now I want to use them to see how people read content online, not just lists, but blogs and social network sites, too.
September 12th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
@Meg : good to see you there again. Sure, eye-tracking tests are very interesting. But, as to me, blogs, facebook, twitter, nearly every websites are organised with lists. Posts goes deeper and deeper in every blogs, like twits… On facebook, your friend are just listed… list design is everywhere.
September 15th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
That’s why social media is the great equalizer. It allows anyone with something interesting to say to get some attention.
Google is a great traffic driver but you’re right, you have to be at the top for it to matter. With that said, you can be for specific things quite easily, even if you aren’t for the big terms.
September 15th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
@ Adam : Indeed, I think social media should have been the great equalizer, but would you really say every interesting web creation get some attention ? I agree with Google being a terrific driver, since Google drives on the web.
September 15th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
If your users/readers use social media sites, it will…
September 15th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
I guess they are not all social media sites users. Thanks for the indirect compliment.
September 23rd, 2008 at 10:53 pm
Hello my friend,
tout époque, mon premier vinyl 33tours… Dark side of the moon
et jusqu’a : it’s another brick in the wall !
September 24th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Yes, but this an english blog !
Leave a Reply