What’s your reaction to a website that opens with images (and messages) that scroll across the top of the homepage?

It’s a design element commonly known as sliders. I’ve never liked it, but I see so much of it, I assumed I was in the minority. Now I’m not so sure.

I’ve been involved in the design of two websites recently (not as a developer, but on the team as a content creator, ghostwriter and advisor). Both clients wanted sliders at the top of the home page. In both cases, I didn’t think it was the most effective technique, but I was overruled.

Then I happened to see a discussion in one of my LinkedIn groups about sliders and realized that a lot of people share my aversion to this common design element. What’s important is not just that people don’t like sliders, but sliders don’t work.

In “Don’t Use Automatic Image Sliders or Carousels, Ignore the Fad,” digital marketing expert Peep Laja offers three key reasons why you shouldn’t use sliders:

  1. Human eye reacts to movement (and will miss the important stuff)
  2. Too many messages equals no message
  3. Banner blindness

bare feet walkingThe result is a lower conversion rate (defined by Wikipedia as “the proportion of visitors to a website who take action to go beyond a casual content view or website visit”). Instead of taking action, people just walk off your site.

Why would you put design elements on your site that discourage your visitors from doing what you want them to do?

There’s a lot more good information in Laja’s article; it’s well worth the read.

Do you have sliders on your website? How are they working for you?

Update 7/21/2014:

I recently decided to make some significant changes to our website, including a new theme which includes the ability to create sliders. I haven't finished adding all the new elements that I plan on, but I did add some sliders to the home page and I like the way they look. My goal was to keep them simple and informative, not distracting and confusing.

While I think the reasons Peep Laja gives for not using sliders are valid, I believe website design should be driven by the type of business, product, audience and goals of the site. You have a wide range of ways to use sliders; just be sure they're working for you, not against you.

 

 

Jacquelyn Lynn
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