3. Page Layout

50 How Do People Look at a Page?   Users Looking for News Users Looking to Buy Users Buying a Specific Item Users Doing a Very Specific Task Web Design Standards That Users Look For The Problem with Top-Down Design 66 Organization of Pages   Light Pages Encourage Looking Content Placement and Visual Indicators Use Priority Spots Allocate Screen Real Estate Wisely The Most Important Elements Should Stand Out The Price of Miscues Using Eyetracking to Improve Page Layout

Web pages are not bank accounts: Full is not better. Cluttered or difficult designs make people less likely to find what they want. Only a person who really needs something on a particular site will grin and bear it through an unpleasant user experience.

In this chapter, we consider how people look at Web pages and which elements tend to draw their eyes. We also discuss where and how to place the most important content and how to keep the items on a page from competing for users’ attention.