The Illusion of Completeness: How It Damages Your Business Website and How to Avoid It

To fully appreciate the beauty of the landscape, we often pan up and down, or side to side to capture all of the beautiful scenery. Similarly, website users have to scroll up and down or swipe side to side to get the full view of websites and contents.

The design plays a big role in guiding the visitors to believe that they have reached the end of a page. Often neglected, the important information may be hidden down below and it will be left unseen. This fact proves that web designers are key players in this game. Web designers and their designs have the ability to lead viewers toward valuable information by giving a clear signal for content down the page or even to the side. Is this problem familiar to you? If yes, hiring a professional web designer and web developer will strongly improve the performance of your business website!

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WHAT IS THE ILLUSION OF COMPLETENESS?

There are three possible ways to call this effect: the illusion of completeness, the false bottom, and the logical end. All of them refer to a point where visitors believe to be the end of a page, although there is more content exists off-screen vertically and horizontally. We often use this term to call the visual design that fails to lead users toward additional content showing outside the visible area. This problem seems like a huge negative for every business website, isn’t it? Believe us, there are still many websites out there that are unconscious of their mistakes. But lucky you! You’ve found us, a web design company based in Bangkok, that will guide you through the whole process for your business website. We’ll also show you more about all the damages and solutions to this tricky problem — let’s scroll!

WHAT ARE COMMON DESIGN STYLES THAT MISLEAD VISITORS?

1. HUGE HERO GRAPHICS OR VIDEOS

Placing large eye-catching images or videos in the top area is a recent trend of web design. Hugh image-based design is an excellent choice to use for grabbing the attention of visitors, but it often left important contents unread. By adding a call to action button, they strongly navigate visitors to leave for the upcoming page. This kind of design creates a false floor that could neglect important information down the screen.

The example image shows the combination of a large image and a call to action button. The ‘Get Started’ button clearly attracts visitors’ attention. Also, these two elements combined create a notion which implies completion of a page.

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2. DISTINCT HORIZONTAL LINES

Even simple lines can be tricky for your business website. When you create a separation within a page by a horizontal line, it can create a visual barrier and stop people from scrolling further down. Trust us, a false bottom can occur anywhere on the page even without you noticing it. Finding a way to avoid it? Hiring a professional web design company can enhance the usability of your business website.

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3. EXPANSIVE WHITE SPACE

White space is an important element for your business website. (If you have no idea what white space is, click here) But, excessive use of white space can hurt your website as well.

Minimalism is one of the website trends for 2019 that provides a good extra space without distraction to highlight important content. (Want to know more about web design trends for 2019? Let’s jump right into it!) Despite this fact, a large blank space can create a false bottom which signifies the end of a page. Visitors need cues to direct their attention for more content which can be hidden below the fold.

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4. RETURN TO TOP ARROW

Have you ever felt1 tempted to press the arrow that appears on the page? We know you have! The ‘return to top arrow’ can be useful and easier for users as it follows along with the scrolling. But it can be a sign which signifies the end of a page as well. This is why transitional cues become even more important for your business website.

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5. LACKING CONTENT FLOW

Internal promotions can cut the flow of the content by appearing between texts or sections. Social-share buttons are often placed between two parts as well. Similarly, these factors can indicate to users that they have reached the finishing point of the page. Also, they can interrupt user participation as perceived as advertisements at the bottom of the page. Visitors may leave the page before noticing related content below the advertisement.

TIPS & TRICKS TO AVOID THE ILLUSION OF COMPLETENESS

1. IMPORTANT MESSAGE COMES FIRST

According to NNGroup, website visitors usually spend about 74% of the time in the top two screenfuls of content, whereas the remaining 26% was spent in small increments further down the length of the page. By looking at the data, the most important message about your business or product should be the first priority by placing them above the fold for more effective results.

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2. MAKE IT SMALLER

For better performance of your business website, avoiding full-screen hero content is a must-do task. Whenever you use large banners, carousels, or videos at the top of a page, you have to make sure that additional content peeks above the fold. This method is a solution which can lead users to scroll further.

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3. BE CAREFUL OF LINES AND BLANK SPACES

 As it was mentioned above, lines or large area of white space between section can be misunderstood as the end of relevant content. You have to use them carefully to prevent a false bottom. If you are not sure about your website’s design and layout, we can help you here.

4. BE AWARE OF INTERRUPTING CONTENT

Please be cautious about breaking the flow of the content by adding icons and ads. If you can’t avoid them, then it is necessary to carefully place advertisements or social-share icons on the page. Also, it is essential to have clear navigation or guideline to users by suggesting that additional information can be found further down the page. By doing this, your business website will improve its performance enormously.

5. USE DIRECTIONAL CUES

Even if you provide either hidden or obvious navigational cues, users easily miss them. The best solution is to clearly communicate that additional information exists by using strong directional cues — obvious arrow, slide counts and headlines.

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6. DEVELOP A PATTERN / RHYTHM

Rhythm can be easily created by repeating heading and content formats, including icons or arrows. Another trick is to follow the main pattern with altered background colors, numbers, and the alignment of images. The pattern of your business website can create a stronger impact on visitors as they can predict the possibility of the content.

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Creating a website that fits your business takes a lot of time and hard work. Any small mistakes can damage your website and brand image. The effect of the illusion of completeness sometimes occurs without any signs. How can you prevent this problem? If you have a business based in Bangkok, the first step is to hire an outstanding web design company to solve this problem for you. Professional web designers and web developers know it better than you, contact us!

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Source:   https://www.nngroup.com/articles/illusion-of-completeness/
https://conversionxl.com/blog/false-bottom/   business

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