24% don’t know how to search something on Google

You thought anyone is able to search something on Google. Well, is seems not. 24% of the people involved in a study performed by Jakob Nielsen couldn’t even find it, not to mention searching something with it. That again might seem surprising, as most recent browsers have a quick Google search box in their upper right corner. Not to mention that the first thing i would do when hearing the task "search something with Google" would be to type www.google.com in the address bar. But hey, that’s just me…

One more thing. Given the study was conducted on above-average users means the overall success in using Google among regular Internet visitors is lower.

Ok, so what’s the point of this study, besides showing us that a couple of people don’t know anything about Google? Well, it shows the difference between a webmaster/Internet savvy user and the normal users. Because I’m sure that if you ask all the people from the first category about Google, none of them will fail in telling you what it is. But for the second category.. the results speak for themselves.

Thus, the moral of the story is simple: don’t assume your readers/visitors think as you do and know what you do. No, because they don’t. On most sites, the majority of visitors is composed of just regular users. Users that you should not confuse, you should not assault with crazy layouts and you should not consider more experienced than they are. And how can you make sure you won’t do these mistakes? Well, usability knowledge comes in handy right now. Do you have someone specialized in usability and user behaviour in your team? If yes, great. If not… What are you waiting for?

Tags: Google, Jakob Nielsen, usability, user behaviour