Typical web users' behaviour and attitudes

Users generally have a purpose They are impatient They don't want to learn new tricks They don't know much about using browsers They want to scan, not read

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Users generally have a purpose

They usually want to find some information or to buy something.
Sometimes they want to play on-line games.
Sometimes they want to find people with similar interests or views.

They are impatient

They will usually leave if:

• Your pages take over 10 seconds to load.
• They can't easily find what they want on your site.
• There are too many steps from the beginning to the end of the sequence of pages they're following.

They don't want to learn new tricks

Learning new techniques for using web pages takes time - users are impatient!
Check out Jakob Nielsen's article “The Increasing Conservatism of Web Users” for more details.

Webword.com's article “The Four Horsemen of Usability” even argues that:

• Americans spend over 50% of their surfing time looking at AOL / Time Warner, Microsoft, Yahoo! or Napster (before the record companies nobbled Napster).
• These four companies define users' expectations of what web sites should be like.
• The rest of us should follow their lead rather than bang our heads on a brick wall.

They don't know much about using browsers

And they don't want to learn how!

Carolyn Snyder's “Seven tricks that Web users don't know” describes how even the simplest things can baffle many users - it's very amusing unless it happens on your site.

They want to scan, not read

Reading from computer screens is about 25% slower than reading from paper (Jakob Nielsen)

Prolonged reading from a screen can cause discomfort:

• Even the best screens are less clear than printed books.
• Many users have poor eyesight - including me!

The exceptions

Of course there are exceptions:

• The human bloodhounds who'll track anything down.
• People who just want to pass the time.
• People who are motivated by new techniques.
• People who are studying web-based courses - I hope!

They're exceptions - but they might be your exceptions!

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