Should You Use a Carousel?

Should you use a carousel?

Pamela Pavliscak | @paminthelab change sciences

NO! COMMON

WISDOM

“ …tools like carousels are used to keep everyone from beating the shit out of each other.

-Brad Frost

Ineffective

Frustrating

A little lazy

Lab Studies

20 SITES

n=365

About 5% click on a featured item in the carousel.

Live sites or interactive prototypes with a functional carousel.

Click-through varies by site type 12% 9% 5% 4% 3% 2% 2%

Music Television E-commerce Academic Financial Real Estate Careers

“ If the image gets my attention, I might try it. I’m always looking for new music.

-M, Millennial, Minimizer

“ I’m looking for something under $2500/mo with 2 beds and 2 baths. Really, I focused only on the search.

-F, GenX, Wired

The more specific the need, the fewer clicks on carousels.

56% click on whatever is immediately below the carousel, if it fills the top of the page.

18% wait for more than one featured item or use arrows to cycle through.

Carousels often focus attention below the carousel itself.

What about cycle rate?

Fast Slow No

Click through differs by cycle rate

Fast Slow No

• 

12% 78% 10%

Of those who clicked on a featured item in a carousel.

“ I didn’t get a chance to see that, but I’m not so interested that I’ll go back.

-F, Boomer, Influencer

“ Oh, there was a way to see more? The dots are pretty small, so I didn’t notice.

-F, Millennial, Wired

If you must use a carousel, a slow cycle rate is likely to get more clicks.

Carousel or Feed?

either/or It’s not really

but both can highlight new stuff

68% scroll down a feed, a bit more than those who click just below a carousel at the top.

n=131

Both draw attention away from navigation at the top of the page.

What about happiness?

Felt happy

Clicked Didn’t

Time Exploring Likely to Return Felt happy Time Exploring Likely to Return

Time is observed, happiness and likelihood to return are reported. Carousels are one factor in the overall experience people have with the site.