Design
Designing for attention spans that don't exist
5 min read
The oft-cited claim that humans now have shorter attention spans than goldfish has been debunked for years, yet it still gets used to justify stripping every ounce of depth from a homepage.
People don't lack attention. They lack patience for content that hasn't earned their attention yet. Those are different problems with different solutions.
The fix isn't shorter pages — it's better sequencing. Editorial pacing, a clear point of view stated early, and visual hierarchy that rewards continued scrolling will hold attention longer than a page that's been sanded down to bullet points.