Intriguing branches

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The Design Need:

You want to bring related information or content on your website to the attention of your visitors.

Design Examples:

Design Solution:

Provide links to related content based on the behavior and interests of your users. Remember that a system that provides bad or even inappropriate recommendations might do you more harm than a system without intriguing branches. If you setup a system of intriguing branches keep in mind some design best practices

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  • Start by getting to know your visitors. Get to know what intrigues your audience and what content might be related to these interests.
  • Design a system that identifies the current interest of your visitor and suggests content that might also be of their interest.
  • Design links in such a manner that they appeal to your users but don’t distract the visitors that come in to get something quickly.
  • Attract attention to the related content you are offering that suits your design and the function. E.g links to related content placed inside a text area might be simple text links where intriguing branches shown outside the text might be more visual images.
  • Try to evoke curiosity for the content you are referring to. But make sure the user knows he will be navigating away from the current content.
  • Provide an easy way back to where the user came from, so they can proceed with what they were doing.

When to use:

  • If you have a content rich website or application and want to bring specific information, content or products to the attention of your visitors.
  • It is likely that the visitors of your website will be interested in other products or content that you have to offer and your content has similarities you can use to set up branches.
  • If you can invest sufficient time to set-up a recommendation system that works according to the user’s expectations.

Why use this solution (rationale):

Showing links to related products, content and or information on your website will tempt visitors to stay longer and go deeper into your site. This design pattern will only work if you understand what might interest your users while searching your site for certain information.

More info elsewhere:

• Categorized as Design Patterns