[Sigia-l] Rollover Question (Web 2.0)

[Jared M. Spool]

At 11:55 PM 9/28/2006, Andrew wrote:
>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).

Hi Andrew,

I agree you'll see some people move their mouse. However, don't confuse 
observation with inference.

Your *observation* (based on what you wrote) is you've seen users move the 
mouse over items to explore them. You've also observed users commenting 
that they felt tooltips weren't meaningful enough.

Your *inference* (based on what you wrote) seems to be you believe the 
problem is the tooltips need improvement and this would benefit those users 
who explore with their mouse.

I don't disagree with the observations. I wasn't there and have no way of 
knowing what users did or didn't do. Plus, I too have seen some users move 
their mouse around the screen, waiting for the browser to give them the 
"finger" and looking for additional clues.

However, I do think your inference (as I interpreted it) could be faulty. 
 From what you wrote, I don't think you asked enough questions:

Why were the users looking for rollovers and tooltips in the first place?
Do those same users *always* look for rollovers and tooltips regardless of 
the page they're on?
Or is it the function of the page's design that suggests they should do that?
If you increased the effectiveness of the on-screen design, would it 
eliminate those users' desire to move their mouse?
What happens for those users who need to scroll and the mouse is needed to 
control the scroll bar?
Do they have more problems making the right choices than users who end up 
moving their mouse?

It could be that your users are more likely to move their mouse (thereby 
suggesting you invest more in improving tooltips and rollovers).
It could also be that all users are more likely to move their mouse on your 
page, because your design demands it to succeed (thereby suggesting you 
invest more in the on-screen page design and reduce the need for tooltips 
and rollovers).
What observations have you collected to figure out which it is? How could 
you test to see which is more likely?

It's important we ask the right questions before we draw our inferences 
from the observations. Different inferences will lead us to different 
design solutions. We need to ensure our inferences are leading us in the 
right direction.

Jared


Jared M. Spool, Founding Principal, User Interface Engineering
510 Turnpike Street, Suite 102, North Andover, MA 01845
978 327-5561   jspool at uie.com  http://www.uie.com
Blog: http://www.uie.com/brainsparks