The Attention Span Principle

Every user comes to a site with a set attention span. Short or long, it is what it is. You have the extent of that span to hook your user. With each hook, they’ll grant you another span of attention. So making use of the spans you have is critical. Bring flowers.

In the first span of attention, you’re a blank slate stacked up against your user’s unknown set of expectations. Your first and only mission is to tell the user three things.

• Who you are
• What you do
• What makes you different

You must do this on your home page, the first page they come to, and you have to make it your priority message. You can do it with any combination of words and images and razzle-dazzle. Maybe you do it overtly. Maybe it’s a subtle combination of elements. Missing any of those three targets will very likely result in the user leaving your web site. They have come for a reason, they want to know if you have what they need. If their attention span runs out before they know, they become bored or frustrated, and that’s goodbye.

Call it the first date. Hello. How are you. You look nice. Hands to yourself.

If you can hook them in their first span of attention, you’ll have earned a click, and another, longer span of attention. A second date.

On that second date, you have just one job to do: get them from where they are (your home page) to a page on your site that has the more specific content they seek. You’ve met or exceeded their initial expectation. They are prepared to like you. Now it’s time to answer some questions and make some offers.

So if I sell sparkly paint, and a user comes to my site looking to buy some, they need to know right away that I’m Sparkly Paint Company, I sell sparkly paint, and that my paint is sparklier than all other sparkly paints.

My users will smile, gratified that they have come to the right place, and hooked by my clear and compelling information.

The web user will then feel motivated to delve into the section of my site where I detail my selection of sparkly paints, or whatever sparkly paint offer I may have at the time. The second date. The click. It’s here that your UI design is critical. If they can’t find a compelling link, or if the desired page doesn’t exist, or if it’s badly presented, the user will become bored or frustrated, unable to answer their questions, and unsure if answers exist. There are other fish in the sea, other sites to look at, so if my beloved user cannot find their answers easily, it’s very likely that I won’t get a third date.

Ah, the third date.

Once someone gives you a third span of attention, when they’ve held you up to expectations twice and you’ve met or exceeded them, they’re a little bit hooked. They’ll give you more attention, and more leeway, and you’ll be able to present them with more, deeper, content. These are users who will sign up for email newsletters, buy products, and contact your sales team. These are the people who will read technical specs, fill out forms, and bookmark you for a return visit. Not always, not automatically, and not immediately, but they are now in reach. They’re in reach because you’ve earned their attention over a wisely spent period of just a couple of minutes.

No doubt it’s temping to go for the sale right away, but resist that temptation. Be wise, and be patient with your UX, and be content to get them hooked one span of attention at a time. You don’t open the door on a first date and behave like it’s your third unless you want that first date to end quickly and badly.

Your users are not open to your offers right away.  When they make the decision that your site is a worthwhile place for their attention, then they’ll be much more receptive to whatever you’re asking them to do. Maybe they’ll fill out your form. But the truth is that even that isn’t your overall goal. What you really want from a web user is a long term relationship. You want them to keep coming back, to tell their friends, and identify with your brand.

So treat your users like people. Take it slow. Build your new relationship one span of attention at a time.

[Link to The Attention Span Principle]