To help cope with information overload, we naturally organise complex information into more manageable groups.
The technique of organising complex information into more manageable groups is called "chunking". Some people are better able to chunk information than others, and certain groups of people with cognitive difficulties tend to find chunking particularly difficult. Some websites display documents as a series of abstracts, with the option to display more information about each point should the visitor be interested in that particular topic. This technique automatically provides the chunking required to understand the document, making it more usable for both visitors with excellent chunking skills, and those that find chunking difficult.
An abstract for the content in this section.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Sed egestas aliquet libero. Curabitur porttitor, orci vitae suscipit dapibus, nisl nulla ultrices est, eu malesuada diam sem ac odio. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos hymenaeos. Quisque eget purus. Sed fringilla elementum lectus. Proin vitae nunc vel velit dapibus laoreet. Donec scelerisque dui nec sem. Aliquam sit amet risus sit amet diam dapibus varius. Integer vitae nunc. Nulla luctus sapien ut mauris. Nunc venenatis, enim non consequat tincidunt, nibh magna pretium sapien, ut eleifend turpis massa accumsan risus. Etiam dictum facilisis dui. Pellentesque et velit nec nibh congue interdum. Pellentesque vulputate turpis at ligula. Aliquam vel arcu sit amet turpis faucibus accumsan. Aliquam enim est, vestibulum vitae, posuere nec, rhoncus ac, ipsum. Pellentesque egestas, orci in semper viverra, ante nisl vehicula augue, egestas consequat purus pede sed orci. Sed tempor. Vivamus vel nunc vitae eros consequat ultricies. Ut vel tortor.
An abstract for the final section.
Nullam aliquet arcu at magna. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Suspendisse quis quam. Praesent volutpat. Vivamus porta lorem sit amet neque. Etiam odio leo, feugiat vitae, mollis vitae, molestie ut, leo. Sed metus tortor, tristique id, lobortis pellentesque, condimentum et, enim. Ut laoreet vestibulum quam. Suspendisse consectetuer. Nulla venenatis. Duis eget eros. Aenean odio ipsum, mollis cursus, varius non, dignissim quis, nibh. Maecenas ut tortor aliquet tellus molestie mattis. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Mauris augue dolor, feugiat auctor, sollicitudin ut, tincidunt sit amet, diam. Pellentesque quis nulla sit amet massa nonummy tincidunt. Praesent viverra placerat quam. Donec consectetuer mattis nisi. Integer et odio. Aenean diam nunc, gravida eu, posuere interdum, imperdiet non, augue.
Back to techniques for guideline 3.2.