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I've often seen links on the web - mostly beneath smaller text blocks - indicating that theres more to read when you click on it:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. more...

What is the default action one would expect? So far I have seen

  • jquery animations reveling hidden text right underneath the text which is already visible.
  • the entire website reloading and displaying the article
  • dialogs/modal windows/popups
  • websites opening on new tabs

Please note that I am not asking what the best solution is. I would like to know what most users expect to happen.

PatomaS
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uxfelix
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  • Although interesting, the question is asking for opinions, which will lead to its closure, can you rephrase it? – PatomaS Feb 25 '14 at 01:22
  • I'm hoping for significant data maybe from a usability test or a decent link @PatomaS. Besides, I see no difference to the discussion about the hamburger icon. – uxfelix Feb 25 '14 at 05:29
  • May be so, but as I read the question, it looks to me as more oriented to opinions. Still, as I mentioned, I think is interesting. – PatomaS Feb 25 '14 at 05:53

3 Answers3

5

Here:

  • the "more" text is displayed inline, as part of the paragraph
  • it uses an ellipsis
  • it looks like a regular link

So, in this case, the expected behavior is an animation revealing the text underneath.

For the other expected behaviors, the "more" action would be a button, on its own line, displayed after the paragraph, with a margin between the two.

jgthms
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Acknowledging individual differences (the result of each person's past subjective experiences) is key in UX.

This question cannot be answered in the same way you can't predict what most users will expect when clicking on a nav link (popup menu, mega-menu, page reload).

From usability point of view, each of these solutions will have its pros and cons, and the optimal behaviour depends on many specifics that you should be aware of (how much more there is to display; will the user benefit from staying on the same page; etc.).

Even if someone would go into the lengths of researching this, a comprehensive research will be expensive and its results will only be valid for a limited time (people's expectations are adjusted based on experience). Let alone the difficulties users will have to articulate their expectations in technical terms, most would probably replay "to see more".

Regardless, even if there was such research, it still doesn't mean the leading expectation would suit your case - most users may prefer a Javascript animation, but if you have a whole news item to display it would probably be better to navigate to the article page.

Considering task models - it hardly matters, so long the users get to see more, and the system still accounts for the content and interactions they may need to achieve their goal (after clicking more), and that in case you navigate away it makes sense within the user journey, then your job is done.

Izhaki
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I usually expect a text that tells me what is going to happen if I click that link. I'm still waiting for that.

Now, the most common case is expanding the area, so routine makes me expect that if it's a site I haven't been before. If I've been, I already know what is going to happen, so I expect the behaviour not to have changed.

Going to a new page with full content is something that I expect if the content is long enough. For instance, I expect that for a blog post, but not for a review of a book. Although reviews are getting longer. It's also somethig to expect when the content has or may have comments.

I don't expect a new tab or window to open. If that happens, I'll close the site unless I really have to read what just came up.

PatomaS
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