This link has been bookmarked by 39 people . It was first bookmarked on 26 Oct 2006, by David Leal.
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05 Jun 12
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When dealing with information, a web page can do only one of two things: either it contains the content the user wants or it contains the links to get them to the content they want. If a page doesn't follow this rule, then the users stop clicking and they aren't likely to find their target content.
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It turned out that users were far more successful at finding their targets when the description words, which they told us before they saw the site, appeared on the home page.
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In the tasks where users successfully found their target content, the description words appeared on the home page 72% of the time. When users were unsuccessful, their words only appeared an average of 6% of the time on the home page.
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This study indicates that if those trigger words are found on the home page, users are far more likely to get what they are looking for.
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Trigger Words as Search Keywords
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In fact, when users did eventually go to Search, they almost always typed one or more of the description words as their search terms. It makes sense to us that users would use their description as their search term. This was when we realized the failed searches in a site's search log are important clues to understanding the users' trigger words.
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Since many of Analog Device's customers are engineers looking for information about components to build into their products, the company has focused on making sure their trigger words appear on the home page. Instead of having to guess what major category a particular component falls under, the engineers now can quickly pick the closest component out of a list, going directly to the content they desire.
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How do you find out what your users' trigger words are? Well, you start by asking them.
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Visiting your users in their natural environments is a wonderful way to start.
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We've found that personas are a great way to communicate trigger words to everyone on the design team.
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A persona is a detailed description of a user the team wants to ensure is successful on the site. Listing, within the persona, the trigger words that person would use helps the designers understand how the users' own language will impact the final design.
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This powerful trio -- field studies, personas, and usability testing -- are a great way to start identifying the trigger words that work for your users.
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The purpose of every link is to move users forward. Each link needs to give off enough "scent" to clue the user into the content to follow. That scent comes from the trigger words. When creating new content, the designers' most important task is to ensure that the links to that content contains the right trigger words.
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28 Sep 11
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09 Dec 09
julieharpringAnother interesting fact from that study: In those tasks where the users didn't find their target, they were far more likely to use the site's Search function than in those tasks where the description words appeared on the home page. When the words did appear, users usually clicked on the associated links instead of using Search.
In fact, when users did eventually go to Search, they almost always typed one or more of the description words as their search terms. It makes sense to us that users would use their description as their search term. This was when we realized the failed searches in a site's search log are important clues to understanding the users' trigger words. -
13 May 09
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31 Jan 09
Simone Economo"When dealing with information, a web page can do only one of two things: either it contains the content the user wants or it contains the links to get them to the content they want. If a page doesn't follow this rule, then the users stop clicking and the
webdesign webdev user usability experience seo interaction ui search word ux trigger for:andreagandino for:ukinomao for:laburno
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27 Mar 08
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26 Oct 06
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When dealing with information, a web page can do only one of two things: either it contains the content the user wants or it contains the links to get them to the content they want. If a page doesn't follow this rule, then the users stop clicking and they aren't likely to find their target content.
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Trigger words are the words and phrases that trigger a user into clicking. They contain the essential elements to provide the motivation to continue with the site.
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users were far more successful at finding their targets when the description words, which they told us before they saw the site, appeared on the home page
-
In those tasks where the users didn't find their target, they were far more likely to use the site's Search function than in those tasks where the description words appeared on the home page.
-
when users did eventually go to Search, they almost always typed one or more of the description words as their search terms
-
the failed searches in a site's search log are important clues to understanding the users' trigger words
-
Since many of Analog Device's customers are engineers looking for information about components to build into their products, the company has focused on making sure their trigger words appear on the home page.
-
We've found that personas are a great way to communicate trigger words to everyone on the design team.
-
Listing, within the persona, the trigger words that person would use helps the designers understand how the users' own language will impact the final design.
-
How do you find out what your users' trigger words are? Well, you start by > asking them. >
Visiting your users in their natural environments is a wonderful way to start.
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In addition, we've never conducted a usability test that didn't yield tremendous insight into how users react to the links the team is using. It becomes obvious immediately when links are missing the clues the users need to go forward.
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09 Dec 04
j wintherThe purpose of every link is to move users forward. Each link needs to give off enough "scent" to clue the user into the content to follow. That scent comes from the trigger words.
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