You mean there really is hope?
In a June, 2013 column Nielsen reports the results of a study in which his team:
analyzed 1.5 million eyetracking fixations from hundreds of sites
and reached the perhaps surprising conclusion that web-reading:(Sometimes) Does Happen
What's perhaps most shocking is Nielsen's explanation (actually one of a number of explanations, but still one he emphasizes) for this:
As I mentioned earlier, helpful IA and effective page layout are key to getting users to read your copy. However, our eyetracking data also detected a third ingredient for converting users from scanners to readers: high-quality writing.
Sorry, no real surprise — although we’ve identified 83 detailed guidelines for web content, they really boil down to that. Having guided people to your content, it must be good.
I get the impression that Nielsen only grudgingly acknowledges this particular point, but I'll accept it just the same.
Go to: A mistake to begin with, or
Go
to: It's nice to have a devoted reader, or
Go
to: How to read a Boidem column.