If you want to observe the state of reading today in America, just head over to your local bookstore. Oh, sorry, it’s closed down… But don’t worry, people have merely switched media: now they’re reading online. Well actually, do worry… Here’s a fabulous piece by Farhad Manjoo for Slate Magazine: “Why You Won’t Finish This Article.” Using recent studies in online behavior, it signals paragraph by paragraph how many people are likely to be still reading, and ends with a cute “thanks Mom” for the sole survivor.
So what does this mean for websites? Here’s a vivid answer:
OnlyCoin is a beautiful site. And it betrays the mindset behind that colorful foldout card in the airline seat pocket. Even if you’re illiterate, you deserve to survive a plane crash…
The law of web design today is unmistakable: Use as Few Words As Possible. Think picture book for four-year-olds, but make the pictures cool instead of nursery. Or imagine a billboard you’re passing at 80 mph with just enough time to grab one bold image and a 4-word headline.
But what about the fact finders, a modest but significant percentage of the population? They are likely to include at least one of the decision makers when it comes to your product or service, so we can’t ignore them…
The simple answer is, you create an online basement full of facts. It’s the lower level of your website. The top level is all pictures and grade-3 headlines. But that top level is peppered with “Learn More” buttons that most of your visitors are too breathless to click. “Learn More” is for the fact finders. It’s the door to the basement, leading down to old-world web pages with endless copy (300 words!) and a small cheesy image from iStock. If a normal millennial falls into the basement by mistake, they’ll quickly rush upstairs to the reassuring world of massive colorful banners and two-syllable words.
Welcome to the world of PLD — Post-Literacy Design. Enjoy it if you can.