Today I have one objective, to show you why adding more content to your website might be doing more harm than good.
I thought that Craigslist would be a great example to show you what I mean. Craigslist is a website where people can buy and sell pretty much anything.
Too many options
One of the first things you notice when you open this website is the amount of text, and the number of options provided on the home screen.
I commend Craigslist’s designers for the approach. Providing customers with everything they may potentially need, is one of the ways to add convenience to any offer. But, if not done carefully, this approach can serve the opposite function, leading to frustrated customers, as they try to figure out how to to use your offering.
Think of it this way, imagine if a salesperson approached you and suddenly started telling you about a new hair growth product. They inform you of the ingredients used and then proceed to tell you about each of the 500 products sold by the company.
How would this make you feel?
The thought of it alone makes me feel overwhelmed.
The same principle applies to the content you add to your website.
Craigslist’s Home page
How to prevent information overload
Ask yourself two questions:
- Does this content serve this user’s current needs?
- Does this content serve the need I am trying to create in the user?
If the answer to these questions is no, then the content is probably not serving the customer.
What do I mean?
If I were a customer, looking for a rental property, and I opened this website, seeing all the subheadings related to community serves no function for me (i.e pets, politics, rants & raves). Instead, seeing this content may just confuse me, waste my time.
Studies in psychology have shown how having too many options can lead to unpleasant emotions in people as they are required to think harder than they originally wanted to. For more information, read Hick’s Law.
Improved design example
Here is an alternative approach for Craigslist’s website.
1. Search button
A big search button at the center of the screen where users can easily find it, and use it. This search button is AI-powered, therefore, allowing the user to type Houses to rent in Cape Town. This then presents a list of houses to rent in Cape Town.
2. Suggestions
Popular searches are provided to guide the user. The reason is twofold. Firstly, it is to help the user learn what type of search text they may enter into the search box. Secondly, it’s a quick navigation option to allow the user to go directly to what they are looking for, without having to type anything in.
3. Everything else
Everything else that does not fall into the website’s main purpose can be added to the bottom of the page (categorized with subheadings and written in a smaller font as to). Examples include privacy policies, blogs, and the about page.
Example of improved Craigslist website by Somila Dayile
Conclusion
Having too much information on a website’s page is overwhelming for the human brain to process. An alternative to this it to space out content on the page, provide as much white-space as possible and group related information so that it’s easy for the brain to find order. In this article, I discuss neuroscience findings that show that our brain cannot cope with chaos.
Which other websites have an overload of information on their pages?
