Why are things always in the last place you look for them?
Because you stop looking when you find them.
  —Children’s riddle

In the past five years I’ve spent a lot of time watching people use the Web, and the thing that has struck me most is the difference between how we think people use Web sites and how they actually use them.
When we’re creating sites, we act as though people are going to pore over each page, reading our finely crafted text, figuring out how we’ve organized things, and weighing their options before deciding which link to click.
What they actually do most of the time (if we’re lucky) is glance at each new page, scan some of the text, and click on the first link that catches their interest or vaguely resembles the thing they’re looking for. There are usually large parts of the page that they don’t even look at.
We’re thinking “great literature” (or at least “product brochure”), while the user’s reality is much closer to “billboard going by at 60 miles an hour.”

As you might imagine, it’s a little more complicated than this, and it depends on the kind of page, what the user is trying to do, how much of a hurry she’s in, and so on. But this simplistic view is much closer to reality than most of us imagine.
It makes sense that we picture a more rational, attentive user when we’re designing pages. It’s only natural to assume that everyone uses the Web the same way we do, and—like everyone else—we tend to think that our own behavior is much more orderly and sensible than it really is.
If you want to design effective Web pages, though, you have to learn to live with three facts about real-world Web use.

Fact of life #1:
We don’t read pages. We scan them.
One of the very few well-documented facts about Web use is that people tend to spend very little time reading most Web pages.¹  Instead, we scan (or skim) them, looking for words or phrases that catch our eye.
The exception, of course, is pages that contain documents like news stories, reports, or product descriptions. But even then, if the document is longer than a few paragraphs, we’re likely to print it out—since it’s easier and faster to read on paper than on a screen.
Why do we scan?

• We’re usually in a hurry. Much of our Web use is motivated by the desire to save time. As a result, Web users tend to act like sharks: they have to keep moving, or they’ll die. We just don’t have the time to read any more than necessary.

• We know we don’t need to read everything. On most pages, we’re really only interested in a fraction of what’s on the page. We’re just looking for the bits that match our interests or the task at hand, and the rest of it is irrelevant. Scanning is how we find the relevant bits.

• We’re good at it. We’ve been scanning newspapers, magazines, and books all our lives to find the parts we’re interested in, and we know that it works.

The net effect is a lot like Gary Larson’s classic Far Side cartoon about the difference between what we say to dogs and what they hear. In the cartoon, the dog (named Ginger) appears to be listening intently as her owner gives her a serious talking-to about staying out of the garbage. But from the dog’s point of view, all he’s saying is “blah blah GINGER blah blah blah blah GINGER blah blah blah.”
What we see when we look at a Web page depends on what we have in mind, but it’s usually just a fraction of what’s on the page.

Like Ginger, we tend to focus on words and phrases that seem to match (a) the task at hand or (b) our current or ongoing personal interests. And of course, (c) the trigger words that are hardwired into our nervous systems, like “Free,” “Sale,” and “Sex.”

Fact of life #2:
We don’t make optimal choices.
We satisfice.
When we’re designing pages, we tend to assume that users will scan the page, consider all of the available options, and choose the best one.
In reality, though, most of the time we don’t choose the best option—we choose the first reasonable option, a strategy known as satisficing.²  As soon as we find a link that seems like it might lead to what we’re looking for, there’s a very good chance that we’ll click it.
I’d observed this behavior for years, but its significance wasn’t really clear to me until I read Gary Klein’s book, Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions.³  Klein has spent fifteen years studying naturalistic decision making: how people like fire fighters, pilots, chess masters, and nuclear power plant operators make high-stakes decisions in real settings, with time pressure, vague goals, limited information, and changing conditions.
Klein’s team of observers went into their first study (of field commanders at fire scenes) with the generally accepted model of rational decision making: faced with a problem, a person gathers information, identifies the possible solutions, and chooses the best one. They started with the hypothesis that because of the high stakes and extreme time pressure, fire captains would be able to compare only two options, an assumption they thought was conservative. As it turned out, the fire commanders didn’t compare any options. They took the first reasonable plan that came to mind and did a quick mental test for problems. If they didn’t find any, they had their plan of action.
So why don’t Web users look for the best choice?

• We’re usually in a hurry. And as Klein points out “Optimizing is hard, and it takes a long time. Satisficing is more efficient.”

• There’s not much of a penalty for guessing wrong. Unlike the firefighters, the penalty for guessing wrong on a Web site is usually only a click or two of the Back button, making satisficing an effective strategy. Of course, this assumes that pages load quickly; when they don’t, we have to make our choices more carefully—just one of the many reasons why most Web users don’t like slow-loading pages.

• Weighing options may not improve our chances. On poorly designed sites, putting effort into making the best choice doesn’t really help. You’re usually better off going with your first guess and using the Back button if it doesn’t work out.

• Guessing is more fun. It’s less work than weighing options, and if you guess right, it’s faster. And it introduces an element of chance—the pleasant possibility of running into something surprising and good.

Of course, this is not to say that users never weigh options before they click. It depends on things like their frame of mind, how pressed they are for time, and how much confidence they have in the site.

Fact of life #3:
We don’t figure out how things work.
We muddle through.
One of the things that becomes obvious as soon as you do any usability testing—whether you’re testing Web sites, software, or household appliances—is the extent to which people use things all the time without understanding how they work, or with completely wrong-headed ideas about how they work.
Faced with any sort of technology, very few people take the time to read instructions. Instead, we forge ahead and muddle through, making up our own vaguely plausible stories about what we’re doing and why it works.
It often reminds me of the scene at the end of The Prince and the Pauper where the real prince discovers that the look-alike pauper has been using the Great Seal of England as a nutcracker in his absence. (It makes perfect sense—to him, the seal is just this great big, heavy chunk of metal.)
And the fact is, we get things done that way. I’ve seen lots of people use software and Web sites effectively in ways that are nothing like what the designers intended.
My favorite example is the people (and I’ve seen dozens of them myself) who will type a site’s entire URL in the Yahoo search box every time they want to go to there—not just to find the site for the first time, but every time they want to go there, sometimes several times a day. If you ask them about it, it becomes clear that some of them think that Yahoo is the Internet, and that this is the way you use it.⁴

And muddling through is not limited to beginners. Even technically savvy users often have surprising gaps in their understanding of how things work. (I wouldn’t be surprised if even Bill Gates has some bits of technology in his life that he uses by muddling through.)
Why does this happen?

• It’s not important to us. For most of us, it doesn’t matter to us whether we understand how things work, as long as we can use them. It’s not for lack of intelligence, but for lack of caring. In the great scheme of things, it’s just not important to us.⁵

• If we find something that works, we stick to it. Once we find something that works—no matter how badly—we tend not to look for a better way. We’ll use a better way if we stumble across one, but we seldom look for one.

It’s always interesting to watch Web designers and developers observe their first usability test. The first time they see a user click on something completely inappropriate, they’re surprised. (For instance, when the user ignores a nice big fat “Software” button in the navigation bar, saying something like, “Well, I’m looking for software, so I guess I’d click here on ‘Cheap Stuff’ because cheap is always good.”) The user may even find what he’s looking for eventually, but by then the people watching don’t know whether to be happy or not.
The second time it happens, they’re yelling “Just click on ‘Software’!” The third time, you can see them thinking: “Why are we even bothering?”
And it’s a good question: if people manage to muddle through so much, does it really matter whether they “get it”? The answer is that it matters a great deal because while muddling through may work sometimes, it tends to be inefficient and error prone. On the other hand, if users “get it,”

• There’s a much better chance that they’ll find what they’re looking for, which is good for them and for you.

• There’s a better chance that they’ll understand the full range of what your site has to offer—not just the parts that they stumble across.

• You have a better chance of steering them to the parts of your site that you want them to see.

• They’ll feel smarter and more in control when they’re using your site, which will bring them back. You can only get away with a site that people muddle through until someone builds one down the street that makes them feel smart.

If life gives you lemons…
By now you may be thinking (given this less than rosy picture of the Web audience), “Why don’t I just get a job at the local 7-11? At least my efforts might be appreciated.”
So, what’s a girl to do?
The answer: if your audience is going to act like you’re designing billboards, then design great billboards.
[The next chapter is Billboard Design 101]

¹ See Jakob Nielsen’s October 1997 Alertbox column, “How Users Read on the Web” available at www.useit.com.  BACK
² Economist Herbert Simon coined the term (a cross between satisfying and sufficing) in Models of Man: Social and Rational (Wiley, 1957).  BACK
³ The MIT Press, 1998.  BACK
⁴ In the same vein, I’ve encountered many AOL users who clearly think that AOL is the Internet. Good news for Yahoo and AOL.  BACK
⁵ Web developers often have a particularly hard time understanding—or even believing—that people might feel this way, since they themselves are usually keenly interested in how things work.  BACK
Excerpted from Don’t Make Me Think! A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability
A Circle.com Library book, published by New Riders
© 1997-2005  Steve Krug

]]> http://jaymundo.com/2008/07/22/sample-chapter-from-dont-make-me-think-web-usability/feed/ http://jaymundo.com/2008/07/17/happy-birthday-to-jaymunda/ http://jaymundo.com/2008/07/17/happy-birthday-to-jaymunda/#comments Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:48:46 +0000 Jay Jaymunda Java http://jaymundo.com/2008/07/17/happy-birthday-to-jaymunda/ Who said all good things come in “threes”?! Today, July 17^th marks the fourth year that Jaymunda has been in business and it’s been our best year ever!
 

We have crossed several milestones this year and I am happy to announce that we have…

·         Expanded further into the Atlanta area and are on our way to becoming a permanent presence in the ATL market,

·         Streamlined our process to more effectively serve our clients,

·         Unveiled www.jaymundabasic.com, a program which helps Small Businesses get their websites started, and

·         Dramatically increased our ability to produce larger, more powerful websites by increasing our development staff

 

I’d like to take this opportunity to personally thank each one of our clients and referral partners. Our business has grown through the excellent Word of Mouth you have provided and we couldn’t have done it without you. We plan to continue to expand more and more and I look forward to many more years of excellence. Thanks for all the referrals!

 

 

Sincerely,

Jason K. Syzdek

President

 

Jaymunda: Internet Stress Relief

(678) 389-6929 - Atlanta    |    (828) 254-0892 - Asheville

www.jaymunda.com

]]> http://jaymundo.com/2008/07/17/happy-birthday-to-jaymunda/feed/ http://jaymundo.com/2008/07/08/identity-theft-is-more-likely-to-strike-over-the-phone-than-online/ http://jaymundo.com/2008/07/08/identity-theft-is-more-likely-to-strike-over-the-phone-than-online/#comments Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:00:00 +0000 Jay Jaymunda Java http://jaymundo.com/2008/07/08/identity-theft-is-more-likely-to-strike-over-the-phone-than-online/ FACT: More people experience identity theft person to person AND person to phone than person to computer.  
 

So now that your online identity theft worries are gone, here are three good reasons to accept credit cards online no matter what kind of business you run…
 

1.       People expect it, many individuals expect to be able to pay online and many businesses won’t even select your business unless they can have the option.
2.       You get paid faster.
3.       It’s less expensive to have online credit card fees than to process by phone or in person.   
                (Click here for our Rates and fees.)
 

Contact Jaymunda to find out how to set up online credit card acceptance for your business.

]]> http://jaymundo.com/2008/07/08/identity-theft-is-more-likely-to-strike-over-the-phone-than-online/feed/ http://jaymundo.com/2008/07/07/i-got-traffic-now-what-by-jon-rognerud-entrepreneurcom/ http://jaymundo.com/2008/07/07/i-got-traffic-now-what-by-jon-rognerud-entrepreneurcom/#comments Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:53:11 +0000 Jay Miscellaneous http://jaymundo.com/2008/07/07/i-got-traffic-now-what-by-jon-rognerud-entrepreneurcom/ I Got Traffic. Now What?
By Jon Rognerud - Entrepreneur.com 
Congratulations. Through diligent keyword placement, content creation, and internal and external link development, you’ve optimized your site to attract search engine visitors for your top related terms and phrases.

Now that they’re coming, how do you get them to stay? And more importantly, how do you get them to buy?

It’s a lot easier than it looks. By mastering the following 11 techniques, you can be assured higher conversion rates, more sales and, best of all, more money in your pocket.

1. Clean house before you have visitors over. Your website should have a clean, professional, easy-to-navigate design. If it looks like your 10-year-old nephew designed your website, potential customers may conclude that he designed your product, too–and leave right away.

A professional-looking design inspires confidence in your visitors, with the added benefit of making it simple for them to find exactly what they need–or didn’t know they needed.

It doesn’t have to be expensive. You can purchase a customizable template at sites like Template Monster or hire a freelance designer at a site like Guru or Rent-A-Coder. Make sure you change the template enough so that it doesn’t look like one.

2. Provide details, details, details. While you don’t want to reprint the dictionary, the more details you can provide your potential customers, the higher the perceived value of your products and the more comfortable your visitors will be making a purchase.

If you’re selling an information product, include an excerpt or two–maybe even a full chapter. List the table of contents, the glossary and/or the appendix. Mention the page count, word count, chapter count, or that it includes “101 color palettes to make your living room pop” or “interviews with 27 industry leaders.”

If you’re selling a physical product, include one or more high-quality images. In fact, even if you’re not selling a physical product, creating a fake “book graphic” and highlighting a photo of it can lend credibility while making a lengthy text description easier on the eyes. List the dimensions, the weight and/or the materials.

When describing the tangible benefits of your products, don’t forget to appeal to your customers’ emotions. Don’t just tell them that your abdominal crunching machine can help them do 50 crunches a minute; remind them how great their six-pack abs and smaller dress size will make them feel.

Along the same line, include images that appeal to their emotions. Don’t just put up a photo of your abdominal cruncher against a white wall. Instead photograph a fit, attractive person having fun using it.

3. Make suggestions. If you have more than one product, cross-promote and up-sell where you can. It’s very likely that a person looking at a birdhouse will also want birdseed and a guide to identifying North American birds. In fact, even if they decide they ultimately don’t want the birdhouse, they may still wind up buying one or more of the related products. Make sure you track the various items on your page. See my More Money from Landing Pages blog post for more on that.

4. Create a sense of urgency. If you give visitors the impression that your website and special pricing will be around forever, they might take that long to decide if they want to make a purchase. Boldly announce a sales price that only lasts until midnight, or that you only have 12 items remaining in stock and aren’t sure if you’ll ever have more. This will encourage readers to buy right now instead of thinking they can wait until later.

5. Give clear directions. Studies of website visitors have shown that using the phrase “Click here” or “Yes, I want my white paper” instead of a vaguer phrase like “Read more” yields much higher click-through rates. Don’t assume anything. If they need to click a link to make a purchase, explicitly tell them to click the link.

6. Start high, end low. Another strategy for getting people to make purchases is to start out by offering an expensive item–say, a complete set of 100 motivational DVDs with 1,000 hours of video–and then introducing a smaller, more affordable version of the item. The idea is to whet their appetite for all that you could be offering, and then give them a version that they can also benefit from without breaking the bank.

The best part is that some visitors will buy the higher-priced item, too.

7. Everyone likes something for free. Come up with a bonus to offer for free with each purchase. If you sell an information product, offer a free e-book or newsletter. If you ship a physical product, throw in an extra accessory or even something as small as a sticker. Even better: Factor in the cost of shipping into each item’s price and then offer “free” shipping.

8. Give your word–and stick to it. Offer a money-back guarantee on whatever products or services you’re selling. This makes it easier for potential buyers to hand over their money. Offering a 60- or 90-day guarantee allows the person to trust you and take action on your offer.

Will a few unscrupulous buyers take advantage of your guarantee? Probably, and the best way to deal with them is to refund their money and move on. Honoring your word in this way builds positive word-of-mouth marketing, and if nothing else is simply good business karma. The additional sales you’ll earn in exchange for offering a money-back guarantee is well worth it.

9. Offer testimonials. Inspire trust in your visitors by displaying testimonials from happy customers. If you haven’t sold anything yet, ask friends and family to write testimonials for you, or swap testimonials with an online acquaintance selling a non-competitive–or better yet, complementary–product. Adding a video or audio clip is something you should consider, especially in the current YouTube times.

10. Get them to leave something, if not their money. The mere fact that someone arrived at your website in the first place means they’re interested in what you have to offer. There’s a myriad of reasons why they may not purchase right away.

Don’t let them leave without saying good-bye. Offer a free bonus, gift or coupon code in exchange for their e-mail address. A great strategy is to invite visitors to sign up for a free newsletter or information product that requires their e-mail address to deliver. You can then send periodic e-mails announcing sales, specials or new products to these potential customers, who are already pre-screened and want what you have.

11. Don’t forget to keep working on SEO. Once the traffic starts rolling in, it’s easy to forget how your visitors found you in the first place. Keeping up with your SEO strategies will ensure a steady stream of customers for a long time to come. SEO is a never-ending task.

Jon Rognerud is a recognized authority on the subject of search engine optimization and has spent more than 15 years developing websites and marketing solutions at companies like Overture and Yahoo!. His website, www.jonrognerud.com, provides a wealth of informative articles, resources and complimentary e-mail courses on everything you’ll ever need to know about SEO and search marketing.

 

]]> http://jaymundo.com/2008/07/07/i-got-traffic-now-what-by-jon-rognerud-entrepreneurcom/feed/ http://jaymundo.com/2008/06/23/your-computer-can-help-fight-malaria-find-out-how/ http://jaymundo.com/2008/06/23/your-computer-can-help-fight-malaria-find-out-how/#comments Mon, 23 Jun 2008 21:00:42 +0000 Jay Jaymunda Java http://jaymundo.com/2008/06/23/your-computer-can-help-fight-malaria-find-out-how/ Use your computer for good, not evil!  Your computer can help make important scientific discoveries while you twiddle your thumbs.  Jaymunda has recently added three new links to its resources section of the Jaymunda.com website – Seti Home, Proteins at Home and Malaria Control.    These links promote giving of your computer’s processing power when you’re not using it.   To find out more go to: http://jaymunda.com/content/downloads/

]]> http://jaymundo.com/2008/06/23/your-computer-can-help-fight-malaria-find-out-how/feed/ http://jaymundo.com/2008/06/19/why-smile-when-people-cant-see-you/ http://jaymundo.com/2008/06/19/why-smile-when-people-cant-see-you/#comments Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:16:07 +0000 Jay Jaymunda Java http://jaymundo.com/2008/06/19/why-smile-when-people-cant-see-you/ 9 out of 10 people will cheer up if you are smiling while talking to them on the phone.  You’ve heard that a smile is good medicine, but have you ever really taken it to heart?  Thinking positively during the day actually cheers you up and greatly affects the people around you.  Next time you’re stuck in a rut, read a comic or an inspiring quote to turn that frown into sunshine.  It will make your day and greatly improve the response to your customer service!

]]> http://jaymundo.com/2008/06/19/why-smile-when-people-cant-see-you/feed/ http://jaymundo.com/2008/06/10/jaymunda-expands-helps-other-local-asheville-small-businesses-do-the-same/ http://jaymundo.com/2008/06/10/jaymunda-expands-helps-other-local-asheville-small-businesses-do-the-same/#comments Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:23:42 +0000 Jay Miscellaneous http://jaymundo.com/2008/06/10/jaymunda-expands-helps-other-local-asheville-small-businesses-do-the-same/ Asheville-based marketing and Web technology company Jaymunda (www.Jaymunda.com) is helping other local businesses thrive and grow through small business education following their own recent expansion, opening a new office in the Atlanta area in the Fall of 2007.
Asheville, NC – May 7, 2008 – Local web development and Internet marketing company, Jaymunda (www.Jaymunda.com), is nearing its four-year anniversary while actively promoting economic development in Asheville through a focus on entrepreneurs. After the company’s own recent growth and expansion with a second office opened in the Atlanta area, Jaymunda is working to help other small and medium-sized businesses succeed through new technology education.
Jaymunda has been involved in small business education in Asheville by teaching classes through an affiliation with A-B Tech’s Small Business Center / Incubator, as well as their past event “So You Have a Website… Now What?” which was attended by over 60 community members and small business owners.
Jaymunda’s contributions to the community haven’t gone unnoticed. “We appreciate Jaymunda’s participation in our Professional Services office to provide pro bono time for clients of our center,” says Russ Yelton, Executive Director of Entrepreneurial Ventures and Business Incubation for A-B Tech. “It is professionals such as them who give of their time back to the community that makes the Asheville business market a special place to be.”
Nearly every small business has the potential to grow if they can harness the power of a truly effective Web presence. “Websites have come a long way over the last several years,” says Jason Syzdek, President of Jaymunda.  “Websites offer tools and capabilities many small business owners aren’t even aware of, such as the ability to more directly interact with their customers. It doesn’t matter if you’re an artist, an online business, or even a consultant - having a website should be looked at as a necessity and not just an option at this point in time. Websites are just as effective in building more local business as they are in expanding to new markets nationally or even internationally.”
While small towns can feel “invaded” by large corporations setting up chain stores or offices, Jaymunda serves as an example of small business biting back. They expanded from Asheville to Atlanta while still staying true to their local roots, focused on helping other Asheville entrepreneurs do the same.
“At Jaymunda, we believe we have a duty to help educate local business owners in a way that they can better understand how technology, design, and Internet marketing combine to lead to growth, both on an individual basis as well as economic growth in the community,” says Syzdek. “Small businesses shouldn’t fear corporate growth into their towns. We have the ability to help them reach local customers by using technology in ways that can help to level the playing field.”
In addition to classes and events in the community, Jaymunda offers free marketing tips, tools, and downloads for entrepreneurs at www.Jaymunda.com.
- more -
About Jaymunda
Jaymunda: Graphic & Web Design, Inc. is a respected Web technology company focused on providing advertising, design, programming, search engine optimization, and marketing services to small and medium-sized businesses. Based in Asheville, NC, the company expanded in 2007 to open a second office in Marietta, GA. Jaymunda was founded by President Jason Syzdek.
For more information about Jaymunda, or what the company is doing to help Asheville’s small and medium-sized businesses, please visit www.Jaymunda.com.

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