 |
|
01.06.10 Maximizing Your Users Website Interaction  By Gord Hotchkiss Earlier, I explained how our brain finds "Waldo." To briefly recap the post: We have two neural mechanisms for seeing things we might want to pay attention to: a peripheral scanning system that takes in a wide field of vision and a focused (foveal) system that allows us to drill down to details. We have neurons that are specialists in different areas: i.e. picking out colors, shapes and disruptions in patterns. We use these recruited neuronal swat teams to identify something we're looking for in our "mind's eye" (the visual cortex) prior to searching for it in our environment. These swat teams focus our attention on our intended targets by synchronizing their firing patterns (like a mental Flash Mob) which allows them to rise above the noise of the other things fighting for our attention. Today, let's look at the potential implications of this in our domain, specifically interactions with websites. But First: A Word about Information Scent I've talked before about Pirolli's Information Foraging Theory (and another post from this blog). Briefly, it states that we employ the same strategies we use to find food when we're looking for information online. That's because, just like food, information tends to come in patches online and we have to make decisions about the promise of the patch, to determine whether we should stay there or find a new patch. There's another study I've yet to share (it will be coming in a post later this week) that indicates our brain might have a built in timer that controls how much time we spend in a patch and when we decide to move on. The important point for this post is that we have a mental image of the information we seek. We picture our "prey" in our mind before looking for it. And, if that prey can be imagined visually, this will begin to recruit our swat team of neurons to help guide us to the part of the page where we might see it. Just like we have a mental picture of Waldo (from yesterday's post) that helps us pick him out of a crowd, we have a mental picture of whatever we're looking for. Pirolli talks about information scent. These are the clues on a page that the information we seek lies beyond a link or button. Now, consider what we've learned about how the brain chooses what we pay attention to. If a visual representation of information is relevant, it acts as a powerful presentation of information scent. The brain processes images much faster than text (which has to be translated by the brain). We would have our neuronal swat team already primed for the picture, singing in unison to draw the spotlight of our attention towards it. Neurons Storming Your Webpage First, let me share some of the common behaviors we've seen through eye tracking on people visiting websites (in an example from The BuyerSphere Project). I'll try to interpret what's happening in the brain: Continue reading this article. About the Author: Gord Hotchkiss is the President and CEO of Enquiro, whose goal is to push the search engine optimization industry forward both in terms of measurable results and client satisfaction. |
||||||
|
| ||
-- DevWebProBR is an iEntry, Inc. publication -- iEntry, Inc. 2549 Richmond Rd. Lexington KY, 40509 © 2010 iEntry Inc. All Rights Reserved Privacy Policy Legal
|
