Is Interaction Cost Driving Your Users Away? 5 Fixes To Make Now

Every website requires interaction in order to achieve a goal.

These interactions can range from clicking a button that leads to a new page, filling out a form to subscribe to a newsletter, or hovering over a calendar event to find out more information.

Each interaction requires something from the user: the interaction cost. Interaction cost is summarized by the Nielsen Norman Group as “the effort users spend to achieve their goals on a site or app.” Put simply, it’s a measure of the usability of any specific interaction.

Knowing that the goal is to minimize the mental and physical toll of completing tasks, let’s look at a few common mistakes that may be increasing the interaction cost on your site – and how to fix them.

1. Confusing navigation

To make a website usable, it should be incredibly straightforward for users to find the information they need.

Having a clear hierarchy and using straightforward language (rather than industry-specific lingo) in the navigation is essential. The design needs to be easy for your users (not you) to find what they’re looking for.

And if information isn’t located where users expect, they should be able to search for it. Remember, it doesn’t take long to lose your users!

Fix: Ensure that important pages are easily accessible with straightforward navigation, and include search functionality as a fallback method for finding specific information.

2. Requiring too much information, too early

When content is hidden behind a login wall, it can be frustrating to potential users. As much as possible, your site should be providing information (benefit) to your community without requiring anything in return.

The same concept applies to long forms that ask for unnecessary personal information. People are increasingly concerned about online privacy, so in addition to a long form being visually overwhelming, it can also make users hesitant to interact.

If they haven’t yet solidified trust in your organization, they are unlikely to want to share private information.

Fix: Reduce forms to only include fields that are absolutely necessary and reserve login walls for select or proprietary information.

3. Buried content

Relevant information should be included in the space where it is expected. One of the most glaring examples is a homepage hero. How many times have you landed on a site and been unable to determine who they are or what they do based on the imagery and text provided?

Carousels with event promo, coupon codes, and other visual clutter are overwhelming. Instead, the hero should be a compelling introduction to your organization, inviting users to read on and learn more.

Modules like carousels and tabs can be helpful for condensing information within a section of a page, but they should only be used within information-dense areas of the site – and there should be context clues that indicate what information users can expect to find. If they have to scroll and click around to discover what’s hidden, they likely aren’t going to be satisfied with their experience.

Fix: Make the hero area clear and concise with one clear call to action. Use the space to establish a connection with your audience. If you are going to condense or hide content, make sure you provide clear and valuable context that encourages users to find and engage with the content.

4. Disorganized content

When content is disorganized, it increases the cognitive load, requiring more mental processing to sort through the information.

Disorganized content may also require users to refer back to previous pages, adding to the interaction cost. That’s why hierarchy, white space, and appropriate grouping are so important – they help provide order to your content.

Fix: Establish order to your content by following key design principles. When possible, employ layouts like comparison tables that can simplify pertinent information.

5. Too many alerts/pop-ups

When users are bombarded with alerts, pop-ups, and cookie consent forms, they are going to quickly become frustrated. It requires them to continuously click to opt-out of things they weren’t even looking for, increasing the interaction cost and reducing trust.

Fix: Utilize alerts sparingly and in a way that won’t annoy your users.

Reducing interaction cost is an important goal for your website and your marketing efforts. It’s why we always emphasize keeping your site simple – the more complex a task, the higher risk you have for frustrating your users and driving them away.

Take some time today to review the user experience and implement the above fixes. Need help coming up with a plan? We can help you – reach out to us today.