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Your Users Won't Read

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Re: Your Users Won't Read

#11

Post by tnicola »

BurritoAlPastor wrote: post #4

I work at a movie theater. We have four pairs of front doors, all of which open outwards. One pair has handles; these are the doors which should be used to enter the building. We sell tickets outside, and tear tickets at the door; if both these doors are open, people come in three or four at a time and we can't get to them and take their tickets. So, one of these two doors is always locked, and the entrance door whic…

Putting a 'Please use this door' on a door that is open is redundant. That is why people 'believed' that the sign said 'Please use other door.'

If you were in front of the door that is open, why say 'Please use this door.' They will. You don't have to say so. People generally do not walk up to the door they do not tend to use. Hence why they assumed that the sign said 'Please use other door', since that is 1) what is most often on the doors and 2) it's illogical to have a confirmatory sign on the open door.

Re: Your Users Won't Read

#12

Post by tnicola »

metabren wrote: post #5

This article comes to the wrong conclusion. Removing the dialog wasn't what stopped the confusion — changing the text on the buttons did. Your users will read — but only enough to feel they have an understanding of a situation before they take action.

I believe that the key word here is feel they understand. That does not necessarily mean that they actually understand.

Re: Your Users Won't Read

#13

Post by notatoad »

it's not so much that users won't read, it's that they read as little as they think they can get away with to make a decision. the best way to solve this problem is to take the decisions away from the user. instead of asking if they want to sign in, give them a username/password form. most of your users will probably be able to fill out the form. no decisions, no reading necessary, no problems.

the users that aren't able to fill out the form they will be unable to continue until they read. they will start looking for the "sign up" button. make it big and obvious for them. still, nobody has made any decisions. the user takes the only path available to them.

Re: Your Users Won't Read

#14

Post by vacri »

experience in support:

'The software isn't performing the analysis'

"Okay, what does the dialogue box say"

'The data file is corrupted' (we have no such dialog box)

"Hrm, I haven't seen that box before, can you read it out word-for-word to me?"

'The. Data. File. Is. Corrupted'.

"Hrm, I've not heard that before, could you please spell out the words letter-by-letter so I can get it exactly right for the developers to look at?"

'Sure: Y-o-u-r s-e-t-t-i-n-g-s a-r-e n-o-t c-o-n-f...'

Even when specifically asked to read the message out word-for-word, endusers find a way to screw it up.

Re: Your Users Won't Read

#16

Post by patio11 »

ben1040 wrote: post #2

4 or 5 years ago I made a registration workflow for a event I was working with as part of a freelance gig. We had a giant bolded text link, something like 24 points, that said "Click Here to Register," right on the front page above the fold. I got several emails from users who asked me "How do I register? I looked all over the front page and found nothing." In hindsight, I wonder if maybe I needed to make it look lik…

The industry has trained people for a decade that primary calls to action look like buttons. People scan for this as a learned behavior, because scanning accomplishes their goals faster (true for most HNers), they don't enjoy reading, they can't read well, or they've learned by painful experience that words on a computer screen are likely scary gibberish like "screen resolution" and "defragment" and you should just click the blue thing in the bottom left corner followed by the blue E so you can get to your Googles.

Re: Your Users Won't Read

#18

Post by icegreentea »

patio11 wrote: post #16
ben1040 wrote: post #2

4 or 5 years ago I made a registration workflow for a event I was working with as part of a freelance gig. We had a giant bolded text link, something like 24 points, that said "Click Here to Register," right on the front page above the fold. I got several emails from users who asked me "How do I register? I looked all over the front page and found nothing." In hindsight, I wonder if maybe I needed to make it look lik…

The industry has trained people for a decade that primary calls to action look like buttons. People scan for this as a learned behavior, because scanning accomplishes their goals faster (true for most HNers), they don't enjoy reading, they can't read well, or they've learned by painful experience that words on a computer screen are likely scary gibberish like "screen resolution" and "defragment" and you should just c…

On top of this, users have also been trained to ignore anything that looks like a banner or ad. Sometimes giant text just looks like something meant to be ignored.

Re: Your Users Won't Read

#19

Post by LearnYouALisp »

icegreentea wrote: post #18
patio11 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The industry has trained people for a decade that primary calls to action look like buttons. People scan for this as a learned behavior, because scanning accomplishes their goals faster (true for most HNers), they don't enjoy reading, they can't read well, or they've learned by painful experience that words on a computer screen are likely scary gibberish like "screen resolution" and "defragment" and you should just c…

On top of this, users have also been trained to ignore anything that looks like a banner or ad. Sometimes giant text just looks like something meant to be ignored.

You should see this website:

http://airforcefcu.com/

Re: Your Users Won't Read

#20

Post by LearnYouALisp »

vacri wrote: post #14

experience in support: 'The software isn't performing the analysis' "Okay, what does the dialogue box say" 'The data file is corrupted' (we have no such dialog box) "Hrm, I haven't seen that box before, can you read it out word-for-word to me?" 'The. Data. File. Is. Corrupted'. "Hrm, I've not heard that before, could you please spell out the words letter-by-letter so I can get it exactly right for the developers to l…

Send that to NotAlwaysRight, now.
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