Re: research to support "more >" link placement?

Hi Nicole,

Without seeing the designs, I'd suggest your client may be going in  
the right direction. We've done a lot of studies on similar design  
patterns and found that (a) users tend to read from top-to-bottom and  
(b) they don't like to go backwards for options. That implies putting  
any 'continuation' links at the bottom of the content. (We've found  
it doesn't hurt to duplicate them at the top of the content too.)

Eye tracking won't help you discover this. However, a simple  
usability test will. You'll easily see if users follow on to the rest.

Keep in mind, the text before the "more>" link will have more impact  
on whether users continue than anything else. If the text is  
compelling (giving off good scent), users willingly click further. If  
the scent is poor, they'll not bother. You'll want to ensure your  
client pays very close attention to the teaser content.

Hope this helps,

Jared

Jared M. Spool
User Interface Engineering
510 Turnpike St., Suite 102, North Andover, MA 01845
e: [email protected] p: +1 978 327 5561
http://uie.com  Blog: http://uie.com/brainsparks


On May 31, 2007, at 4:44 PM, Nicole Maron wrote:

> I'm dealing with a client who is insisting that the "more >"
> contextual navigation link must always be placed and the bottom right
> of a link module area, because he believes users "don't look up" once
> they reach the bottom of a content area and will not see that they
> have additional content options. My team has argued that consistent
> placement and visual treatment are the important factors in creating
> the behavior pattern that will allow users to recognize that there is
> more content. Also, there are other factors which make the lower right
> placement undesirable, like the required use of the bottom right area
> for sponsorship links when present.


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