I was reading a really interesting article this week, on NewScients, on how people who get lost can follow relatively predictable paths.

And it made me think on people who get lost within websites, and the behaviours we see.

During research and user testing we often see people get lost, and it’s interesting to note that we usually see one of a few strategies being applied - each with it’s own potential perils and pitfalls.

Reverse course, re-acquire the scent

Many years ago the Nielsen Norman Group wrote about the concept of information scent - the extent to which users feel they are on the right track to their goal, based on small ‘scent’ clues they sniff out (such as breadcrumbs, headers, link-text, etc.). When the user feels they are on the right path and they’re going well, all good.

And when they get lost, we often see them stop, reverse back a little, and ‘sniff around’ to see if they missed something. The main pitfall with this approach is that it often simply leads to them making the same mistake once more - the scent they followed in the first place. So we watch them reverse, sniff around, find the same misleading scent they found last time, and continue down the wrong path once more. This behaviour can also be quite damaging, as it often leads to a process of loosening the criteria - instead of looking for very specific scent clues (which have just let them down) the user looks for wider, more generalised clues - and then often runs off in completely the wrong direction, getting colder and colder as they go.

This method does work sometimes, usually if there was a slightly hidden scent clue on the page.

Back to basecamp

For other users, a cold trail means heading right back to basecamp. Instead of backing up the trail a turn or two they’ll choose to start all over again, heading back to home (or Landing page) to start again.

This more drastic approach usually fails for exactly the same reason as the reverse course approach; heading back to the start means following the scent right from scratch, which often leads them right back to where they started. Usually this takes even longer, and involves more digging on every page, which can be painful to watch. It’s Groundhog Day.

But the approach does sometimes work, usually when those small hidden clues can be found, or if they took that very first wrong turn.

Keep on forging ahead

For others, the approach to getting lost is to flatly refuse to admit you’re on the wrong path and keep on keeping on. These users just keep forging ahead despite the information they’re seeing telling them in ever more strident tones that they’re in the wrong place. Until, inevitably, they come to a halt at the end of the path with no goal in site and nothing to do but surrender to the inevitable, and admit defeat.

These tests are hard to watch, because often the user has psychologically set themselves against the interface - it’s do, or die. They’ve refused to be beaten or thrown off the path and yet have just found the whistle blowing on full time with a big fat zero on their side of the scoreboard and the other team (the website) doing a lap of victory. And the impact can be a complete rejection of the site and/or the products they were looking for. In short they pack up their ball and go home (which is far less embarrassing than returning to basecamp and telling everyone they spent the day getting lost).

And if they do return to basecamp and start again, the resentment they feel is often palpable. Whether they later succeed in finding their way almost no longer matters - because their love for this website and their journey through it has just died.

Wait for help

For others, getting lost means admitting you’re defeated right away. The answer is to stop and wait for help to arrive - or send up a flare, and call for it.

These users will first wait for help (either in person, from the facilitator, or from a popup on the site), usually whilst hopelessly looking around for the right path to present itself. When help doesn’t arrive they’ll often send up that flare - hitting a Chat button or Contact button, or reaching for the phone.

These users generally want to succeed, but can’t find their way alone. If help is available then they can be saved, despite that costing the organisation a fair bit more. If not, they can be lost forever in the deep jungle of the Internet.

Stop & calmly check for options

These are the clever ones; they stop once they know they are lost and start methodically checking their options. Before back-tracking they’ll check other paths - navigation, search, toolbars. They’ll review the task, review the content they are seeing, reassess their goal and walk through the choices they made to see if they’ve made an error. They’ll check for options for flares (chat, contact) but will usually take thoughtful action before they merely backtrack. it’s quite common to see these users switch to search, for example, looking for a quick path to the goal through the thicket of options they face.

And often, they’ll get there. Just like the lost person who doesn’t panic, they are often around afterwards to tell the tale. Unfortunately though, they are somewhat in the minority.

So, it’s predictable…

Just like those people lost in the real-world woods, the behaviours of users lost in your site is relatively predictable. And just as relevant, there are strong options you can provide to help each. key take-aways are:

1. Help them locate where they are. Use breadcrumbs, headings that match the links they pressed or the menu they chose, to help confirm they are where they think they are.

2. Make sure the methodical alternates are clear, and work well. Make sure search is functioning well, and that other shortcuts are clear and visible.

3. Provide strong scent clues at every stage. Don’t use ambiguous or generic links and text, which can lead them astray

4. Make the path back (and back to basecamp) easy to find, and easy to understand. Too many sites make ‘home’ an almost impossible place to return to.

5. Make the flares easy to locate. Keep clear paths for asking for help at every stage - from phone number to chat tool.

6. Make sure it’s hard to get lost in the first place. Use card sorts and other structural alignment research to ensure the pathways and scents you use align closely with those the users expect.

Oh, and watch out for the lions, tigers, and bears.

Oh my.