People scan, not read: a conversion checklist from NN/g and Steve Krug

The experts and the evidence

Nielsen Norman Group (NN/g), the usability research firm, has studied how people read online since the 1990s. Steve Krug is a usability consultant whose book Don't Make Me Think was first published in 2000; the revised third edition, Don't Make Me Think, Revisited, appeared at the end of 2013 with a new chapter on mobile. His website reports more than 700,000 copies sold in 15 languages.

Four NN/g findings are especially relevant to conversion:

• People scan. In a 1997 study, John Morkes and Jakob Nielsen found that users scan text for what they need rather than reading it. Rewriting a test site to be concise, scannable and objective improved measured usability by 124% compared with the promotional original.
• People read only a fraction. Analysing browsing data from a separate study, Nielsen estimated in 2008 that on an average page visitors have time to read at most 28% of the words, with about 20% more likely.
• The F-pattern. First identified by NN/g in 2006 and revisited by Kara Pernice in 2017, this pattern sees readers scan across the top, then a shorter line further down, then down the left edge. It appears when a page is an unformatted wall of text, the user wants to be efficient and is not motivated to read every word. Content on the right and lower down gets missed.
• Attention stays near the top. In a 2018 eyetracking study of 120 participants, NN/g found that 57% of page-viewing time was above the fold and 74% within the first two screenfuls. People scroll, but attention drops sharply.

"users have time to read at most 28% of the words" — Jakob Nielsen, NN/g

Krug's principles in brief

Krug's first law of usability is the book's title: a page should be self-evident, so visitors do not have to stop and puzzle over clever names, marketing-driven labels or unfamiliar jargon. His description of real behaviour matches NN/g's data: people scan, they pick the first reasonable option rather than the best one, and they muddle through rather than work out how things operate.

"We don't make optimal choices. We satisfice." — Steve Krug, Don't Make Me Think

From that follow his practical rules: use conventions unless you genuinely have a better idea; build a clear visual hierarchy; make it obvious what is clickable; reduce noise; cut words drastically, especially self-congratulatory "happy talk" and instructions nobody reads; and make sure any page passes the "trunk test", so a visitor dropped onto it can tell what site it is, what page they are on, and how to navigate or search. He also distinguishes a tagline, which states the value proposition, from a motto, which does not. And he argues for frequent, low-cost usability testing, suggesting one morning a month.

Why it matters for conversion

Conversion problems are often comprehension problems. If the value proposition sits in the third paragraph, the call to action is below the second screenful, or the pricing page is written in marketing language, many visitors simply never see or trust what would have persuaded them. NN/g's 1997 study found that promotional "marketese" hurt usability; Krug calls the same habit happy talk. For SMEs with limited traffic, fixing comprehension is usually cheaper than buying more visitors.

The website conversion checklist

First screen

1. A headline that states what you offer and for whom, in plain words: a tagline, not a motto.
2. One primary call to action, visible without scrolling, with a label that says what happens next ("Request a quote", not "Submit").
3. The most important supporting points in the top half of the first screen, where NN/g found most viewing time falls.

Scannable content

4. Informative subheadings that start with the words people are scanning for.
5. One idea per paragraph, key terms in bold, and lists for features, steps and specifications.
6. Descriptive link text instead of "click here".
7. Word count cut hard: remove happy talk, generic welcome text and instructions that a clear design would make unnecessary.
8. Objective, verifiable claims rather than superlatives.

Navigation and clarity

9. Conventional placement for logo, navigation, search, basket and contact.
10. Clickable elements that look clickable, and nothing clickable that looks like decoration.
11. Every key page passes the trunk test.
12. No "false floor": if there is more below, the design should make that obvious, as NN/g recommends.

Forms and trust

13. Only the fields you truly need, with labels a first-time visitor understands.
14. Proof (clients, certifications, reviews) placed near the decision point, not hidden on an "about" page.

Testing

15. A short usability test every month: ask a handful of people to complete a key task while you watch, then fix the biggest problem before the next round.

Limits and common mistakes

• Treating the F-pattern as a layout template. NN/g presents it as a symptom of poor formatting, not a design goal. The cure is structure, not putting everything on the left.
• Over-trimming. Fewer words help only if the remaining words answer the visitor's questions. Some B2B buyers will read detailed specifications once they are motivated.
• Old data, durable pattern. Some studies date from the 1990s and 2000s. NN/g's later work, including its 2017 review of the F-pattern and 2018 scrolling study, suggests the core behaviour has persisted, but test on your own audience.
• Relying only on analytics. Data shows where people drop off; watching users shows why.

FAQ

Sources

• Concise, SCANNABLE, and Objective: How to Write for the Web — John Morkes and Jakob Nielsen / Nielsen Norman Group, 1997
• How Little Do Users Read? — Jakob Nielsen / Nielsen Norman Group, 2008
• F-Shaped Pattern of Reading on the Web: Misunderstood, But Still Relevant — Kara Pernice / Nielsen Norman Group, 2017
• Scrolling and Attention — Therese Fessenden / Nielsen Norman Group, 2018
• Don't Make Me Think, Revisited (3rd edition) — Steve Krug / New Riders, 2014
• Steve Krug's website — sensible.com
• Reader highlights from Don't Make Me Think, Revisited — Goodreads