Story 5: Reading on the Web

Jakob Nielson's article How Users Read on the Web, has one simple message.  When writing for the web, remember that readers do not want to read what you are writing word for word.  Therefore you must adjust your writing to make it SCANNABLE, also known as WEB-WRITING.

Here are some simple techniques Nielsen suggests to use when writing for the web.

• Use the bold tool to highlight key words
• Hypertext words when possible
• Use sub-headings
• Use bulleted lists
• Write shorter sentences and brief paragraphs with one idea

To measure the effect of web-writing, Nielson and his team conducted an experiment.  They used the same information, structure and content, but developed five different versions of the same web-site.
Nielsen found that the more CONCISE the writing on the site appeared the more usability increased with users participating in the study. 

• Concise version- usability 58% better
• Scannable layout – usability 47% better
• Objective language – usability 27% better
• Promotional writing – usability 0% better

The results of the concise versions were clear-cut, however Nielsen wanted even more dramatic results.

“When we combine three ideas for improved style into a single site (concise, scannable and objective), the result was truly stellar: 124% BETTER,” Nielsen reported.

In this article Nielsen stresses how important it is to remember that internet users do not have a lot of time on their hands. Therefore any text that is not CONCISE and to the point presents a burden on the reader.