Using lists to make your content more skimmable

Posted by Jason Beardriel on Monday, July 24, 2017 at 10:17 AM PDT

Website visitors tend not to read long paragraphs of text. Web browsing is a rapid activity, increasingly done while on the go or while the user’s attention is divided. Users prefer to scan down the page, skimming for the information for which they’re looking. Converting paragraphs into lists makes skimming easier.

A well-respected research and user experience firm, the Nielsen Norman Group suggests the following guidelines for lists: write list items to have approximately similar line lengths; use numbered lists only when the sequence or count of items are important; use parallel sentence construction for list items; avoid repeating the same word(s) at the beginning of each list item; introduce a list with a clear, descriptive sentence or phrase; keep formatting consistent; and don’t overuse bulleted lists, as they can lose their effectiveness.

The above paragraph was pretty hard to read and understand. In fact, you may have skipped right over it because it was so long and dense. Here it is in list format, with a heading to draw attention and announce to the user what will follow.

Guidelines for Using Lists

A well-respected research and user experience firm, the Nielsen Norman Group suggests the following guidelines for lists:

  • Write list items to have approximately similar line lengths.
  • Use numbered lists only when the sequence or count of items are important.
  • Use parallel sentence construction for list items.
  • Avoid repeating the same word(s) at the beginning of each list item.
  • Introduce a list with a clear, descriptive sentence or phrase.
  • Keep formatting consistent.
  • Don’t overuse bulleted lists, as they can lose their effectiveness.

The list is much easier to follow and remember than the paragraph. Keep this in mind as you review and update your website content! 

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