The F-Shaped Reading Pattern Is a Formatting Problem
The F-shaped reading pattern, two horizontal sweeps across the top of the text followed by a scan down the left edge, is mostly a symptom of unformatted walls of text and visitors with low motivation to read (Nielsen Norman Group, 2017). It is not a layout to design toward. When it happens, content on the right and lower on the page gets missed.
What the research observed
The F-pattern was first reported in 2006. It has since been replicated in eye-tracking heatmaps of 45+ and 47 participants (Nielsen Norman Group, 2017; Nielsen Norman Group, 2019).
It is the default scanning behavior when a page offers no strong cues about where to look. Faced with a block of plain paragraphs, visitors read the first line or two, then only the first few words of each line as they move down. The heatmap shows a hot band at the top, a hot strip along the left margin, and the right two-thirds of the text left cold. Nielsen Norman Group describes this as bad for users and for businesses, and notes that good formatting reduces it (Nielsen Norman Group, 2017).
What it means for a business website
Picture an About page or service description written as four long paragraphs. A visitor scanning in an F-pattern reads the opening sentence and then the start of each line. Details in the middle and end of sentences, such as the service area, what is included, or a warranty, go unread.
The visitor has not chosen to ignore those details. The format gave them no way to find them.
What to do
- Put the key points in the first two paragraphs.
- Add descriptive subheadings and break lists of items into bullets.
- Bold the terms visitors are likely to look for.
- Cut filler sentences that add length without adding information.
Sources
- Pernice. F-Shaped Pattern of Reading: Misunderstood, But Still Relevant. Nielsen Norman Group, 2017.
- Pernice. Text Scanning Patterns: Eyetracking Evidence. Nielsen Norman Group, 2019.