What Will You Learn?

• An Introduction to Scent. We start with an example of what scent looks like when it works. You’ll see how a user successfully works their way straight to their desired content, hidden deep within Hewlett-Packard's website.
• Design Factors that Block Scent. We’ll then walk through some of the most common ways designers block scent on websites: iceberg syndrome, camouflaged links, banner blindness, links that lie, missing words, and misplaced links. You’ll see examples of both good and bad trigger words from a variety of sites, such as the websites for the Boston Globe and the Discovery Channel
• The Problem with Navigation Panels. You’ll see the problems we frequently find with navigation panels and global navigation. We’ll show you some classic problems from Amazon.com, Fidelity.com, and other sites as they try, unsuccessfully, to help users move toward their targets.
• Longer is Better. What is the optimal length of a link? How long should your pages be? Looking at the data we’ve collected in thousands of clickstreams, you’ll see exactly how long your links and pages should be, including insightful examples from CNN and Sprint.com.
• The Scent of Graphics. Our research has identified and classified three types of graphics: navigation graphics, content graphics, and decorative graphics.