Friday, August 10, 2007

How many clicks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?

I recently had a discussion about how far a user would go to purchase an item from an online ad. Ultimately, it would depend on the level of interest, but let's pretend for a moment that the level of interest for all products is equal. I, myself, being a person who might lean toward the ADD persuasion, would most likely go as far as 4 clicks, with reading, to find the information I sought or the product I wished to purchase. The other person's response was "I'd go as far as I'd need to.

And while I thought I was following the Web's "Best practices" mantra of "the fewer clicks, the better," I couldn't help but wonder if his perspective had truth to it. What would a user's experience be if he/she had to go 10 clicks vs 3. Would the user be happier? Would they feel safer buying a product withthe more info that 10 clicks would provide?

I assume there is a happy balance somewhere but I've found no studies or empirical data to prove either viewpoint yet.

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