On 4 May 2007, at 14:21, Alison Wildish wrote:
> Can anyone point me in the direction of any research/articles
> relating to
> how much information people are willing to read online?
Well probably the most well know research I am aware of is that done
by Neilsen. Here is an example of his thoughts on the subject:
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html
This attitude is reflected in Steve Krug's book "don't make me
think". If you haven't read this get it! It is by far the best web
design book out there period... well in my opinion :)
> I am interested to know whether their is a tendancy for people to
> read a
> little online, then print out or request full details to read at
> leisure?
In my experience it is not so much a question of how much people read
as how they read. As is stated in both of the sources I give above
users scan and don't read. They will skip over huge chunks of content
looking for guides to what they are after (headings, bullets, links
ect).
> I ask because we're, once again, looking at our course information and
> there is a suggestion to create glossy, high quality yet brief
> leaflets to
> give to our enquirers and then point them in the direction of the
> web for
> more information. Whilst I think the information should be
> available in
> full on the website (broken down into useable chunks), I wonder if we
> should be working the other way around?
In my experience course information is something students want to
read in full. They want to know exactly what they are getting as they
are committing considerable amounts of their time and money to
attending a course. It is a big decision. As a result they are likely
to want to read in much more detail. The web isn't very suited to
that. It strains the eye and it can be tiring to read for any length
of time. Also (depending on the age group you are trying to reach)
they may well want to hand information around. They might want to
show it to parents, friends, teachers etc.
I understand that there is a cost saving involved in printing less
and putting more on the web but I am not always sure it is the right
decision. I guess with a good print style sheet the user can always
print the more detailed information online but it is not going to
look as good as a proper printed brochure.
Anyway that is my two cents worth.
Thanks,
Paul
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Paul Boag [ Director ]
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