Trent Walton » Analytics http://trentwalton.com Trent Walton's Web Site Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:55:36 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Divided Attention http://trentwalton.com/2010/01/28/divided-attention/ http://trentwalton.com/2010/01/28/divided-attention/#comments Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:53:14 +0000 Trent http://trentwalton.com/?p=2546 Read more →]]> Browsing Habits

Part of user-experience design is considering how elements on a web page compete for attention. We spend so much time prioritizing the prominence of items within a page while making little consideration for what else people are doing. What if users rarely devote 100% of their attention to a web page? To learn more, I surveyed 83 of my closest friends on their browsing habits:

On Average, how many browser windows do you have open at once?

  • One 33%
  • Two 36%
  • Three 18%
  • Four to Five 8%
  • Five + 5%

On Average, how many browser tabs do you have open at once?

  • One to Two 19%
  • Three to Four 38%
  • Five to Six 21%
  • Seven + 22%

Typically, where do you spend the majority of your time while browsing?

  • Living Room 22%
  • Office 54%
  • Bedroom / Dorm 16%
  • Kitchen 8%

What types of applications do you have open while browsing (multiple answer)

  • Email 83%
  • Music / Audio 77%
  • Social Networking 79%
  • Word Processing 50%
  • Online Chat 36%
  • Creative Applications 35%
  • Data Processing 31%

While browsing, what are you doing outside the computer? (multiple answer)

  • Watching TV 52%
  • Working 62%
  • Radio / Music 40%
  • Mobile 12%
  • Eating / Drinking 60%
  • Household Work 24%
  • Hobby 10%

When visiting a website, what percentage of your full attention do you give?

  • 100% 9%
  • 75% 58%
  • 50% 27%
  • 25% 6%

How long does it take to decide whether or not to click further into a website?

  • 1-2 seconds 10%
  • 5-20 seconds 58%
  • 20 seconds - 1 min27%
  • 1 minute + 5%

What is your age? Remember, this survey is anonymous.

  • Younger than 20 6%
  • 20-29 48%
  • 30-39 15%
  • 40-49 8%
  • 50-59 10%
  • 60-69 9%
  • 70+ 4%

What does this mean?

To me, this just confirms what we’ve always known. People don’t browse in a vacuum. We’re mid-conversation, getting off the bus with battery life & email notifications blinking at us web browsers. My Paravel cohort recently tweeted:

The less your design competes with itself, the less you compete with everything else

This high level of competition for attention is something web designers must always have in mind. Keep things simple. Present users with one idea at a time and while you’re at it, go ahead and make that button 20px larger.

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