People More Focused In Web Use

A new report shows that users simply want to complete their task as soon as possible and get off the web rather than search around.

Do you recall when the Internet was an adventure and you could lose yourself for hours simply following links? Those days are a thing of the past, according to the new annual report by usability expert Dr. Jakob Nielsen.

He claims that the “success rate” – the measurement of whether people achieve what they set out to do online – has risen from 60% in 1999 to 75% today. He gave the reasons behind this increase to the BBC.

Firstly, he explained, "the designs have become better but also users have become accustomed to that interactive environment," so they’re not as easily distracted, however much sites want them to be. That’s because "web users have always been ruthless and now are even more so. People want sites to get to the point, they have very little patience. I do not think sites appreciate that yet. They still feel that their site is interesting and special and people will be happy about what they are throwing at them."

Far fewer people these days go to a homepage and drill down to the page they want. Instead they search and go directly to the pages, which means, Nielsen said, that “basically, search engines rule the web,” even if they’re not perfect.