Attention-Grabbing Elements in Web Design

There are many ways of how to grab a user’s attention in web design, from the choice of meaningful words to the placement of images that create an emotional response. Carrie Cousins wants to explore some website elements that can help do an important job: grabbing the user’s attention. There have been many studies on attention with very significant results coming from the area of cognitive neuroscience and psychology. It is an interesting challenge to translate those results into the domain of web design and use it as a tool for creating a meaningful impact.

• High-impact words
• “I want to see more”
• Design for How People Read
• At the right time in the right place
• Color contrast
• Emotional impact and survival instinct
  

High-impact words

There are some words that will grab the user’s attention more than others. This is highly connected to some hard wired responses that our brain will have reading those words. Words can “turn on” our self-centered mind, imply familiarity or bring us into a state of alert. Words like “you,” “now,” and “free” can draw a modest amount of attention toward them but it always depends on the context and what the user’s intentions or goals are.