Survey offers a ‘sneak peek' into Net surfers' brains

SURVEY OFFERS A 'SNEAK PEAK' INTO NET SURFERS' BRAINS
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Edward C. Baig]
Nielsen Norman Group is releasing a study today on how people read web pages. As more business shifts to the Internet, the study findings show companies still have much to learn about how best to present an online image. Findings include: 1) Individuals read Web pages in an “F” pattern. They're more inclined to read longer sentences at the top of a page and less and less as they scroll down. That makes the first two words of a sentence very important. “People are extremely good at screening out things and focusing in on a small number of salient page elements,” says Jakob Nielsen, a principal at the firm. 2) Surfers connect well with images of people looking directly at them. It helps if the person in the photo is attractive, but not too good looking. Photos of people who are clearly professional models are a turnoff. “The person has to be approachable,” Pernice Coyne says. 3) Images in the middle of a page can present an obstacle course. 4) People respond to pictures that provide useful information, not just decoration. 5) Consumers will peek at ads in search engines as a “secondary thing,” Nielsen says, since they usually have specific product targets in mind.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20060327/web_use27.art.htm