Question of the week: What spots on the page are most effective for catching the reader's eye?

This is a good question. 

And like so many good questions - What is the meaning of life? Where is the remote? - the answer isn’t always simple.

There are so many elements that go into designing a page - whether it’s a webpage or the sort that’s still made from paper. But there’s one thing that seems pretty universal in terms of where people tend to look. And it’s the F-word.

In this case, the F-word refers to the F-Pattern. 

The F-Pattern is the super scientific term that hails from eye tracking research studies of the “inter- web” showing that people almost always browse in an F-shaped pattern which favors the upper left side of the screen. And pretty heavily.

More recent research shows that this isn’t specific only to the internet, but is the case across the board. It turns out that this F-Pattern also applies to articles, print ads, etc. Well, this is the case among those who speak and read English at least. 

See the pretty pictures below? Notice the Fs.

The reason for the F-pattern seems fairly obvious.

Especially considering that studies showed that the opposite is true for those users whose languages read from right to left. They prefer a backward F-pattern. (Or whatever symbol most closely represents that in their language. We’re not experts in linguistics.) 

Those of us who speak English have been trained as readers to start at the top left of the page, so this is just where our gaze naturally wanders now.

So that’s the most simplified answer to our question this week. Readers move to the upper left corner of a page first and tend to concentrate their focus there.

Just remember that there will always be other design factors too. And, of course, psychological factors.

As a quick case in point, simply placing the image of a fellow human looking toward something is a huge directional cue. Following others’ gazes is something we’ve done for a long time -  most likely rooted in an evolutionary need to “stay with the herd” in order to survive. So a visual cue could dispense of the F-Pattern and instead direct the reader’s eye to a different spot first.

Aren’t you curious about what she’s looking at?