People don’t read they scan. A Nielsen study from the late 90s figured this out with some extensive user research. I know from my web browsing patterns for this to be a true statement. I recently read an insightful article on the importance of scannability. Of the handful of points given these two caught my attention.

  1. Prioritize the content with visual hierarchy
  2. Use images and illustrations

Over the past year, our product team has set out to rebuild LexBlog.com. Our goal, to move away from a site that has all the usual trimmings (navigation, hero mast, subsections, footer) and toward an approach that places the focus on our network of attorneys and the content they are writing.

People rarely read Web pages word by word; instead, they scan
the page, picking out individual words and sentences.

 -Jakob Nielsen

To accomplish this redesign, we had to strip down the home page and start over. One of our goals was to improve the visual hierarchy as you move down the page. To create clear divisions of content from featured to specific channel highlights. Point one above caught my attention as it was a core focus for this redesign. Point two excited me as it speaks to the next iteration of LexBlog. To enhance the reading/scanning experience by adding imagery. Images add context to an article. Photos and illustrations attract attention and aid in a users ability to scan and find what they are seeking.

Below are some early ideas on reworking the feature section of our home page and lower sections.

Improved Top Featured Section

This cluster approach allows for better visual hierarchy by emphasizing a top story. The other features fall nicely in place on either side of the central column.

Adding a feature story to subsections

By adding a feature story with an image to each subsection we can provides additional visual elements that a user can quickly scan.

While these ideas are not fully developed, the potential is there to excite and create a buzz that drives us onward as we seek to build a site that aids in our goal to bridge the legal services gap between lawyers and consumers.

Photo of Brian Biddle Brian Biddle

For the past 18 years, Brian has been designing and creating legal blogs with LexBlog. If a legal blog has the LexBlog logo, chances are this design came from Brian.

During his time with LexBlog, Brian has served as lead designer and the…

For the past 18 years, Brian has been designing and creating legal blogs with LexBlog. If a legal blog has the LexBlog logo, chances are this design came from Brian.

During his time with LexBlog, Brian has served as lead designer and the art director for LexBlog. In addition, he works directly with the product team to provide design and UX/UI guidance for the tools that power the world’s largest legal network.

Brian lives for design, but he only does so because of the kindness of the noble manatee. Misplaced by his family during a road trip in Florida in 1987, Brian was kept safe by a herd of sea cows for 11 days.

The experience changed him, giving him an appreciation for the beauty found in the natural world and the life-sustaining quality of water-logged leafy greens.

When not in front of his computer, Brian can be found floating gently down the various waterways of Ohio, solving crimes and righting wrongs.