Graphics neither help nor hurt information gathering
Many people feel that graphics make the Web site more usable. Another contingent feels that they make sites unusable. Neither group is right. According to this study, the amount of images on a page had no visible effect on the gathering of information, with two exceptions. These are:
1. Animation
Users found it annoying and “several users covered [the animations] up with their hands”. In fact, one animated image had the answer to one question in it, but the users simply didn’t see the answer there.
2. Download Time
This was not generally an issue, except with a page that had a lot of small images and poor alt text. The image had the answer, but users would navigate away before the image had downloaded.
Tags: Animation, animations, Download Time, gathering, Graphics, help, hurt, information, neither