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Articles

Kathryn Whitenton

Kathryn Whitenton is Nielsen Norman Group's Director of Digital Strategy. She works with clients to evaluate the user experience and information architecture of websites in a variety of industries including technology, telecommunications, and media, as well as corporate intranets. She has conducted usability research, eyetracking user research, and studies of users on mobile devices in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Her user studies have included general audiences as well as specific consumer types, business segments, children, and seniors.

@kwhitenton

Articles and Videos

  • Satisficing: Quickly Meet Users’ Main Needs

    Unless faced with life-changing information, most site visitors won't read all of the content provided but settle for a “good-enough” answer. Better sorting and clearer writing satisfy users without exhausting the limited time they’re willing to spend on a website.

  • Filters vs. Facets: Definitions

    Filters and faceted navigation both reduce large masses of content to a more narrowly focused display, but facets add more power while requiring more work.

  • Killing Off the Global Navigation: One Trend to Avoid

    For desktop sites, demoting your main content categories into a drop-down menu makes it harder for users to discover your offerings.

  • 3 Guidelines for Search Engine "No Results" Pages

    When users get 0 search results, there’s a high risk of site abandonment. Better design can turn this UX disaster into an opportunity for content discovery.

  • Minimize Cognitive Load to Maximize Usability

    The total cognitive load, or amount of mental processing power needed to use your site, affects how easily users find content and complete tasks.

  • Flat vs. Deep Website Hierarchies

    Information can be organized in either flat or deep hierarchies; both have their advantages and pitfalls.