Blog
What the research says about websites that work
Each post takes one finding from usability, eye-tracking, or search research and explains what it means for your site. Sources are linked in every post.
The 24-Pixel Tap Target Minimum and Why It Is a Floor
WCAG 2.2 AA sets a 24 by 24 CSS pixel minimum for tap targets, with exceptions. Treat it as the floor for secondary controls and size main buttons larger.
How People Hold Their Phones and Where to Put Buttons
In 1,333 observations, 49% held phones one-handed, 36% cradled, and 15% two-handed. Design mobile pages for both hands, with key actions mid-screen.
On Phones, People Look Top-Left First
Eye tracking on mobile interfaces found a strong top-left gaze bias driven by expectation more than color or size. Put your most important element there.
What Predicted Attention Maps Can and Cannot Tell You
Saliency models predict what draws the eye at first glance, not what people read or do. They miss banner blindness and habits. Use them only for visual weight.
Click Maps Do Not Show Where People Look
A 36-person study found cursor position tracks gaze unevenly across users and tasks. A cold spot on a click map does not mean visitors never saw that content.
Googlebot Does Not Click, So Load Content Up Front
Google indexes the mobile version of your site and its crawler does not click, swipe, or type. Content loaded only on interaction may never be indexed.
On Mobile, Bold Graphic Blocks Can Look Like Ads
Mobile users swiping past content can mistake large, high-contrast images and graphics for ads and skip them. Keep real content in the normal text flow.
Stop Your Page From Shifting While It Loads
Google rates Cumulative Layout Shift good at 0.1 or less. Late banners, ads, cookie bars, and embeds push content and cause mis-taps.
Your Hero Image and Largest Contentful Paint
Google rates LCP as good at 2.5 seconds or less. The hero image is often the element measured, so how you load it affects how fast your page appears to load.
Repeat Your Call to Action on Long Pages
Visitors spend 43% of viewing time below the fold, spread thin across the page. One button at the top misses people who scroll. Repeat it after key sections.
Start List Items With the Word That Differs
When list items all begin with the same words, users skip those words. Put the differentiating word first in lists, menus, links, and button groups.
Replace 'Click Here' With Descriptive Link Labels
Generic labels like 'click here' give scanning visitors nothing to latch onto. Write link and button labels that say where they go and start with the key word.