A Tip for Writing for the Reader

[David R. Wetzel]

If you are expecting people to read every word you write, then you may want to rethink how you write.

The "F" is for how fast people scan through online materials as they seek out something that may catch their interest.

You may have the catchiest title, compelling information, or controversial topic devised for sharing with others. However, if you do not take into consideration the "F", then people will not read your materials.

What do you mean they will not read my writing?

* Users won't read your text thoroughly in a word-by-word manner. Exhaustive reading is rare, especially when prospective customers are conducting their initial research to compile a shortlist of vendors. Yes, some people will read more, but most won't.

* The first two paragraphs must state the most important information. There's some hope that users will actually read this material, though they'll probably read more of the first paragraph than the second.

* Start subheads, paragraphs, and bullet points with information-carrying words that users will notice when scanning down the left side of your content in the final stem of their "F" behavior. They'll read the third word on a line much less often than the first two words.

Why Not?

* Users first read in a horizontal movement, usually across the upper part of the content area. This initial element forms the "F's" top bar.

* Next, users move down the page a bit and then read across in a second horizontal movement that typically covers a shorter area than the previous movement. This additional element forms the F's lower bar.

* Finally, users scan the content's left side in a vertical movement. Sometimes this is a fairly slow and systematic scan that appears as a solid stripe on an eyetracking heatmap. Other times users move faster, creating a spottier heatmap. This last element forms the "F's" stem.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

See the "F" pattern. This is what you must consider when writing for the web.

Adapted from Jakob Nielsen's Research Writing for the Web.

[Beatriz Lupiano]

Thanks!! This is so interesting! (I actually think I read this post along the lines of the F pattern, even though I was interested and the post is clearly signposted, has brief paragraphs, etc).

*blushing a bit*
Beatriz

[Pernille Ripp]

Great ideas in this article, I was nodding at many of them when I do my own selections for blogs to follow.