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I want you to try finding the US population by going through the US Census Bureau website.
Did you find it? According to a recent study by Jakob Nielsen, only 14% of users could find it, even though it is big and red at the top of the page. (check the study to see a screenshot of the original image in case the website changed). Quite surprising no?
The problem is that it looks like an ad and most people are banner blind. The problem here is that it is in a sidebar with big red text, images and made-up term like “population clock”, traits people associate with an ad.
Even more interesting is to look at the heat map, showing where the user’s eyes stopped. In this case, the user clearly looked at the zone where the answer is, but quickly moved on.
Usability is an interesting beast. Results like this clearly show that you can’t take anything for granted and you need to test with real users.
Popularity: 7% [?]
I’m always interested and impressed by good examples of design and exciting ways to display information. Here are two links you need to check out and keep around when you need inspiration:
- 45 Excellent Blog Designs: The title says it all. There is good mix of simple and clean design along with more elaborate designs.
- Data Visualization: Modern Approaches: There are few here that are obtuse in my opinion, but I would kill to get a graph of how my music tastes evolved and varied over the last 10 years such as this.
Popularity: 11% [?]
