WebJunction

Mike, thanks for posting this. This was sent to my email, but I didn't think to share it with the wider audience.

I've seen [url http://www.eyetools.com/inpage/research_google_eyetracking_heatmap.htm ]other variations[/url] on this eye-tracking analysis. They seem to concur on the hot spot triangle starting with the top of the left rail and wandering over into the top of the content.

The problem with using this to construct a user-friendly page is that you just can't put everything into that triangle. I heard recently that the most common complaint about websites is that they are too cluttered, but when you probe deeper, you find that the sites that people like are also cluttered --they are just more logical to navigate.

At a seminar with Edward Tufte last week (http://www.edwardtufte.com), Tufte talked about how the human eye/brain interface is built to scan a LOT of information, sort, select, focus in and make minute decisions and adjustments in "real" time. He argued for MORE information and hard content right up front on websites as possible, because scanning and choosing is what people are BUILT to do.

He said that the top 10 content websites have between 250-400 items on the screen (mentioned amazon and google news), and people don't complain about that, and each time they come back to the home page, they have an average of 300 things to look at if their first click was a bust.

He had an interesting idea for maintaining attention and getting as much information to folks as possible - that with such a dense upfront content system, one should be able to click multiple items, and have the ability to navigate through that series of information WITHOUT returning to the main page/ table of contents, thereby needing to remember what you wanted and going down that path.

Another point I found fascinating is that he asked what percentage of your site is content and what percentage navigation and "computer administration debris" - he said "DEMAND 90 percent content!" and "One simple navigation bar ONLY!" (I did notice that HIS website has a top nav bar AND a right rail)...

A loony tune? A genius? Your call! Janet

I'd say Tufte is a little of both. I understand he's quite the showman. I'm sorry I missed seeing him.

What I got from Tufte's home page is that he has a NEW BOOK and he wants to make sure you don't miss that fact! The images below the book image are all captivating and beautiful, but they don't communicate (to me) what they're about. I thought they were sample pages of the new book until I noticed the captions. The long list of selected topics on the right make my eyes blur. Send that man back to the Web-dev board! ;)

Overall, Tufte's principles are intriguing but his site has a much lower burden of content to deliver coherently than WebJunction does. It's a good thing that WJ has a lot going on. We just need to find ways to make it easily discoverable.