CMb 2009–21
The three clicks myth
Categorised under: articles, intranets, usability & information architecture, websites
When designing intranets or websites, it is helpful to have some rules of thumb to follow when making decisions. Over time, many of these have become elevated into principles or rules, widely used throughout the industry.
The best-known is the ‘three clicks rule’, which says that all content should be no more than three clicks away from the homepage of the site.
This, however, is a myth.
Three clicks rule
The principles is that "users don’t like to click", and that their satisfaction with the site falls with each additional click.
This has developed into a rule that every page must be no more than three clicks away from the homepage. The big advantage of this rule is its simplicity: it’s easy to state and understand, and is therefore widely known throughout the industry.
It’s also perhaps the only rule that is familiar to management, outside of the intranet and design profession.
Busting the myth
The reality is that users have no problem with clicking, as long as they are confident they’re heading in the right direction.
Overall satisfaction with the site is derived solely from whether they were able to find what they wanted, with little or no recollection of how many clicks were required.
This has been confirmed by research conducted by the usability expert Jared Spool (www.uie.com), who has carefully examined user behaviour on public-facing sites across hundreds of usability tests.
The real goal, therefore, is to design navigation that works well for users. To do this, use the principles outlined in the article Information scent: helping people find the content they want.
Does it matter?
There is an obvious benefit to having simple rules that roll off the tongue. These can be dropped into conversations, and raise the visibility of key issues.
So does it matter than the three clicks rule is a myth, if it gets the right kind of outcome?
The problem with all these rules is that they end up with a life of their own. They become proscriptive statements that are followed without thought or exception.
This leads to aberrant designs or uncompromising decisions. For example, to fit all the content on the site into three levels, the homepage ends up with hundreds of links. Hardly a good outcome from a broader usability perspective.
Instead of following ‘rules’ stated by gurus, website and intranet design teams should think carefully to deliver sites that work well, based on the specific circumstances at hand.
Surface frequent content
While the three clicks rule may be a myth, the common sense principle of bringing more frequently used content towards the top of the site still holds.
While users may not dislike clicking, there is no reason to make them work harder than they need to. Effort should be applied to identify common or important content, and to make sure this can be easily and quickly found on the site.
This may involve tuning the overall structure of the site, or simply adding links to the homepage.
Not the only myth
The three clicks rule is not the only myth. The ’7 +/– 2′ (seven plus or minus two) rule is equally questionable. Designers should also doubt the statement ‘some users always search, while others always browse’.
Readers are encouraged to Google these rules, to uncover their meaning and why they may be myths.
Further reading
www.uie.com/articles/three_click_rule/
carsonified.com/blog/design/top-10-ux-myths/
freeusabilityadvice.com/archive/35/the-3-click-rule
Tags: information architecture, information scent, intranets, myths, three clicks, usability, websites
James Robertson is the founder and Managing Director of Step Two Designs, a vendor-neutral consultancy located in Australia.
James is recognised as one of the world-wide thought leaders on the topics of web content management and intranet strategy. He has worked with many organisations in both the public and private sectors, including Fortune 500 companies and Federal Government agencies. 
5 Comments:
I think one factor that may not have started this myth, but certainly propagated it, is “home page politics”. That is, various stakeholders fighting over real estate on the home page (or anywhere they perceive to be prominent) created this hierarchical economy.
Top of the hierarchy is the home page, getting less valuable as you move down the page. Then comes being in in the main nav, and so on and so forth.
So being within a few clicks was seen as highly valuable, and quoting the three click rule became a bargaining chip.
Of course, smart people would look at web traffic stats and find where the people they want to target are *actually* going, then put their stuff there…instead of blindly aiming for the home page or within three clicks of it.
@Patrick, agree completely! Everyone wants to have *their* stuff on the homepage, citing that “it won’t be found otherwise”. Of course, with the poor state of most site’s information architecture, they may well be right…
This is spot on!
The ‘three clicks’ myth can become a heavy burden on websites, intranets and their content teams. It can turn the top two levels of sites into lists of links without appropriate organisational principles or context, thereby reducing their effectiveness and usability.
With a large and exceedingly complex intranet providing information about a sophisticated financial product “three clicks” is just not possible. The menus are long enough as it is. Thanks for this article, it’s very helpful.
Really good article! The 7 +/-2 rule, which as mentioned is equally questionable, and the 3-click-rule complement each other rather nicely. With a certain amount of content, it just becomes mathematically impossible to comply with both those rules, i.e. only have 7 items to choose from on each page, but also have a structure in place that’s only 3 levels deep. What the existence of both those myths can show us though, is the importance of getting the balance of horizontal and vertical right within an Information Architecture. I am simplifying a bit, aiming the 3 clicks mainly at vertical and the 7 items at horizontal, but well.
Also I wanted to mention Hick’s law here, which demonstrates the effect a higher number of items has, on the time the selection process takes. Less clicks (e.g. only 3 instaed of 6) meaning more links on one page meaning more time for finding the right one, meaning it could potentially be quicker to make a faster decision 6 times than making a slower one three times. This can help to mathematically prove it…
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