Tips, tools, and best practices for B2B marketers.

Turning twiddling thumbs into faithful users

February 27, 2008 | Posted by: Marty

I knew listening to This Week in Tech would come in handy someday. In Episode 132, at the 53:15 mark they mention something that totally clicked (no pun intended) with me.

I find sometimes when reading an article on the web and a few moments pass, I feel the need to actually "do something" with the page. I will unconsiously simply select and de-select text with my mouse, just to generate some sort of interaction with the web browser.

It's not only me. Lab studies from AOL have shown people feel fidgety if they are not doing something with their browsers - people will just scroll up and down and highlight text as they read it, or run their mouse around the page. It seems a sort of OCD exists with a certain segment of web users. I call this the 'fidget' factor.

There is opportunity here to direct this 'fidgety' energy towards something that moves a site experience forward. If you can replace "selecting and de-selecting" with something that focuses attention back towards the content on your site, you can not only keep the visitor engaged for their current visit, but they will remember how engaging it was and increase the likelihood of coming back for more.

The massive popularity of sites like Digg, Facebook, Twitter, etc. can be attributed to the fact that each give the user "things to do" on their pages, honing in on the nature of making something happen and seeing change. They provide outlets for the fidget factor - like, in the case of Digg, voting up stories, commenting, and constantly updating the stories on the front page (refresh, get new content!). In the case of Facebook and Twitter, they let you communicate with your friends and constantly update your information stream. These type of sites let visitors "use" their sites, see change that they initiate, and fulfill the need for interaction.

I would venture to say this user segment is increasing. With the most popular sites offering up a wide range of user-initiated action, the expectation of interactivity is increasingly becoming the norm. The most successful sites focus their users' fidget factor internally towards mechanisms that keep them coming back.

Creating an engaging site is difficult. The first step, however, is to realize that users are going to want more than a passive experience. Offering some sort of "hands-on" mechanism where the visitor gets a perception of change is key. Harnessing your users' fidget factor and fulfilling it with this type of experience is an important component in providing a successful, lasting web presence.