Skimming of Digital Content.

I’m going to keep this brief, because I know you’re not going to stick around for long. Well, I’ve already lost a bunch of you. Okay Bye!!

You “bounced” in Web traffic jargon, meaning you spent no time “engaging” with this page at all.

For those who are still skimming here’s an article you should probably read.

By Nielsen Norman Group explains that people rarely read Web pages word by word; instead, they scan the page, picking out individual words and sentences. But wait a minute this article was written in 1997 !!! ; (

So now you can Imagine the current attention span of the so called Millennial. Since the amount of content available right now on the internet is in abundance. Check the live stats here.

Another research by the Nielsen Norman Group found that 79 percent of their participants, scanned the web page and only 16 percent completed the article.

Skimming :

Skimming has become the default way of consuming content on webpages these days. This behaviour of skimming could be the result of “Paradox of Choice”. Since the amount of content available on the internet is in abundance.

The Nielsen Norman Group has conducted Eye-tracking research in order to understand the pattern followed while skimming an article.

Courtesy: Nielsen Norman Group

The article states that when we read, we tend to scan the first few sentences on the top and then our eyes drop vertically along the left side of the screen forming an F pattern. They found that F-Shaped Pattern of Reading on the Web: Misunderstood, But Still Relevant (Even on Mobile).

People scan in an F-shape when all of these 3 elements are present:

1. A page or a section of a page includes text that has little or no formatting for the web. For example, it has a “wall of text” but no bolding, bullets, or subheadings.
2. The user is trying to be most efficient on that page.
3. The user is not so committed or interested that he is willing to read every word.

Best Antidotes to the F-Shaped Pattern:

1. Include the most important points in the first two paragraphs on the page.
2. Use headings and subheadings. Ensure they look more important, and are more visible, than normal text so users may distinguish them quickly.
3. Start headings and subheadings with the words carrying most information: if users see only the first 2 words, they should still get the gist of the following section.
4. Visually group small amounts of related content — for instance, by surrounding them with a border or using a different background.
5. Bold important words and phrases.
6. Use bullets and numbers to call out items in a list or process.
7. Cut unnecessary content.

Conclusion :

It’s difficult to control people’s actions on the web. But we can optimize content and present in such a way that users can find what they are looking for quickly. In particular, the use of good web-formatting techniques to draw attention to the most important information is the key.