Why Users Aren’t Clicking Your Home Page Carousel

The article says a study found only about 1% of home page visits clicked a carousel slide. It argues that the main problem is not the carousel pattern itself, but the navigation, because arrow affordances do not tell users what they will get if they click.

It recommends replacing arrows with visible text labels. The labels should be descriptive and meaningful, since they are larger, easier to see, and give users a clearer expectation of the slide content.

Reading notes

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• A website study found that about 1% of 3 million home page visits clicked a carousel slide.
• The first slide gets the most clicks, and each later slide gets a steep drop in click-through rate.
• The author says the problem is the carousel navigation, not the carousel pattern itself.
• Arrow navigation does not describe the information users get if they click.
• Users often ignore arrows and focus on more informative elements instead.
• Arrows are small and placed near the edges, so users may miss them.
• The article recommends clear, visible label navigation instead of arrows.
• Labels are described as informative, meaningful, and better at telling users what they will get.
• Label navigation is also larger and placed in a more visible location.
• The author says most people wrongly conclude that all carousels are bad.
• The claim is that carousels do badly mainly when they use arrow navigation.
• The suggested fix is to make labels descriptive and meaningful so more users click the other slides.