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Minimize Page Noise

Your Web site should be effortless to use and not be too taxing on the mind. You will tire your users out, if your pages require a lot of information processing.

To create a Web site that is effortless to use, minimize the:

• 1. Number of words
• 2. Number of font typefaces, sizes and colors
• 3. Number of link options
• 4. Number of text link styles
• 5. Use of background colors
• 6. Use of background wallpaper images

1. Number of words.
Minimize the number of words in your text. If you can get a message across in ten words, instead of thirty, do so. Users want information, with minimum wasted effort and time.

2. Number of font typefaces, sizes and colors.
Minimize the number of font typefaces, sizes and colors. The more font typefaces, sizes and colors you use, the more effort the mind has use to process everything it sees.

3. Number of link options.
Minimize the number of link options. Too often, a page presents us with too much content and too many links. A site that tends to overwhelm me is the ICQ.com home page. In Sept 2001, the home page offered over 300 clickable links, buttons and forms! The content was also divided into 4 columns, which all adds up to a incredibly busy page.

See the old and the latest home page for yourself:

• ICQ.com [Sep 27, 2000]
• ICQ.com [Present day]

A better layout design would be to display a dozen or so main category link options and a few of the most popular sub-category link options. Then on subsequent pages, offer all the options for a particular category.

4. Number of text link styles.
Minimize the number of text link styles. The old ICQ.com home page uses an incredible eight different styles of text links!

Here are all eight styles:

• dark blue text links without underlines
• dark blue text bold links without underlines
• light blue bold text links without underlines
• dark red bold text links without underlines
• dark red text links with underlines
• dark red bold text links with underlines
• light red text links without underlines
• green bold text links without underlines

How confusing is that?!

5. Use of background colors.
Minimize the use of background colors. If you are going to use background colors, use them to define content areas. The eBay.com home page is a good example of how to use background color to clearly define content areas.

6. Use of background wallpaper images.
Minimize the use of background wallpaper. Most background wallpaper images are so faint that they don't distract us. But we do still see them, which adds more work to the mind.

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