Designing Websites for Skimmers, Swimmers and Divers

Designing Websites for SKIMMERS, SWIMMERŠ &DIVERS Many websites are bursting at the seams with Each group is willing to go progressively deeper valuable information and content. Serving up and spend more time on your site. They each this content in a way that's informative and have different needs and wants when it comes engaging (and not overwhelming) can be a to their online experience. So how do you major organizational and design challenge. design your site to address all of them? As you plan the organization and design of your Start by understanding what each audience is site, think of your site visitors in three categories: looking for and think through opportunities to Skimmers, Swimmers and Divers. meet that need. SKIMMERS Glide aleng the surface Skimmers want to get in, get the information they need, and get out as quickly as possible. They read predominantly headlines, and use titles to guide themselves around your site toward the information they want. Tips to design for Skimmers Think about the information most visitors are looking for. This might include your hours, location, phone number, admission prices or menu. Make this information impossible to miss. (It's always a good idea to check your website stats to verify exactly what pages and content are used most often. You may be surprised.) What Skimmers want: 2. Make headlines clear and concise. Use different levels of headlines and establish a clear hierarchy to make page structure easy to SPEED understand at a glance. EASE 3. CLARITY Include search functionality. If Skimmers can't locate the information they want at a glance, a website search acts as a fallback. BREVITY SWIMMERS Splash around Willing to get a little deeper, Swimmers are interested, but have a limited amount of time and energy they will devote to your site. They are likely looking for specific information, but may stop and peruse if something catches their attention. Tips to design for Swimmers Take a cue from magazines. Editors love to find the most dramatic or controversial quotes in stories and make them large and colorful so they jump off the page and grab your attention (A typographic technique called a "pull quote" or "call-out"). Use a similar 1 approach of emphasizing your most compelling content to make What your content irrestible Swimmers. Surimmers want 2. Not everything can be front and center, but be sure not to bury OPTIONS content under too many layers of navigation. The most-used pages and informa tion should be only one click away. SIMPLICITY EFFICIENCY Feature related and relevant information "in context" - include POSSIBILITY similar content when visitors are most likely to be interested in it. For example, an informational page about your services could include reviews or testimonials, links to recommended companion products or deeper case study. DIVERS Jump in head first Divers want to go deep and get the full story. They will read most, if not all, of your copy and may come back often looking for new additions. Tips to design for Divers Start with a logical site map that organizes information in an intuitive way. Divers may get frustrated if they can't make a mental map of your site as they are browsing. 2. What Divers want. Make a clear progression of content, so that Divers can easily find a stopping point and a place to resume later. Breadcrumbs (a trail DETAILS of links to the pages you have visited) can be helpful here. BACKGROUND INTERACTION Enhance the experience for Divers. with multimedia (videos, imagery, audio) and interactive elements wherever possible. CONNECTION Landslide For help optimizing your website for Skimmers, Swimmers and Divers, creative contact Landslide Creative at landslidecreative.com.