[Sigia-l] Rollover Question (Web 2.0)

[Andrew]

Jared M. Spool wrote:
> Agreed.
>
> However, there is one thing you missed.
>
> If you watch users long enough, you'll notice that they rarely move their 
> mouse until *after* they've decided what they want to click on. So, if the 
> rollover contains any information they would need to make the right choice, 
> it's likely they'll choose wrong.
>
> Test two designs: one with rollovers and one without (with the same content 
> always visible on the page). Almost always, the users will perform and 
> prefer the latter.
>
> More info:
> Users Decide First; Move Second
> http://www.uie.com/articles/users_decide_first/
>
> Jared
>
>
>   
Jared,

not that I want to question the master, or quote out of context, but... :)

I've spent a lot of time watching people use web interfaces, and some of 
them definitely do use the mouse pointer as a guide when they are 
browsing around the page - they do look for rollovers and tooltips prior 
to making a click decision. Not all of them, but enough so that 
meaningful tooltips are worthwhile. On three separate occasions in the 
last week-and-a-half on the road watching other people test a design I 
have contributed to, we've had comments to the effect that the tooltips 
were not meaningful enough. This is all anecdotal, of course, but I've 
seen people move the mouse prior to making click decisions (rollovers or 
no).

Cheers, Andrew