User makes unconscious decision based on their previous experience and data they scan
I have set the Google Alert to get the latest search result from Google based on my given keywords, and I am getting this alert results since many months, usually once in a week or so.
Even after getting the same email since last many months, today I made mistake by clicking two wrong URLs to reach the desire one from the email. Finally instead of high-level scanning I read thought the whole content carefully and found the right URL.
But the whole experience was indeed frustrating and troublesome.
The below screens is to show the email format of Google alert.
This is just for you to scan through so that you can relate what I am trying to explain next.
Now the question is why I clicked twice on wrong link even though I am accessing the same email format since last couple of months. I guess the answer is in researched psychological data, and I am trying to put those in very easy words so that everyone can understand. There could be couple of reason as below.
- Other than this email, I have set many RSS and other feed which has similar format, so I am used to click first couple of link, assuming that what I am clicking will open the results directly as like other RSS results
- During email scan, I read “this Google Alert” (see red marked with arrow) as title of the URL, and I assumed that this URL contains the result, and I clicked. But it result into prompt question “Are you sure you want to remove this Google Alert” and after careful reading I realize that this link is to remove my set alert, wovvvv…
- Right after this, I scanned the rest of the below content and clicked another URL, and guess what, I didn’t realize that it was to create another alert, so failed again…
So I took short pause and think why I am shooting at wrong target, and I realized that like many other users I also followed my previous experience (in this case my other RSS feed URLs) and during email content reading I was unconscious and just trying to scan the important content for which my mind was searching for, and therefore I confused with wrong URLs due to inappropriate headings (red marked)
So Google can take care of this like
- Separating out primary URL from secondary actionable items such as remove or create URLs, separation could be visual, text or pictorial.
- Secondary actionable items can be small and in form of label instead of whole URL, and can be set at the bottom of the email
- Google can provide small image snap from the result webpage which can be identify by reader without any problem
Moral of the story - Be fair with users and don’t allow them to make any assumptions with your data and thus you don’t make any assumption during design that your users will understand what you are trying to accomplish with them!!!
