{
  "schema_version": "1.1",
  "id": "nngroup-f-shaped-reading-pattern-2006",
  "slug": "nngroup-f-shaped-reading-pattern-2006",
  "url": "https://groundedkit.com/claims/nngroup-f-shaped-reading-pattern-2006/",
  "api_url": "https://groundedkit.com/api/claims/nngroup-f-shaped-reading-pattern-2006.json",
  "claim": "People often scan web pages in an F-shaped pattern (Nielsen Norman Group eyetracking, 2006)",
  "commonly_cited_as": "\"Users read in an F-pattern\"",
  "verdict": "verified",
  "verdict_definition": "Primary source found; it says the same thing, the scope matches, and it is reasonably current.",
  "confidence": "high",
  "rating": {
    "value": 5,
    "best": 5,
    "worst": 1
  },
  "origin": {
    "publisher": "Nielsen Norman Group",
    "title": "F-Shaped Pattern of Reading on the Web: Misunderstood, But Still Relevant (2017, reviewed 2026)",
    "year": "2006"
  },
  "quote": "perhaps one of the most cited is the F-shaped reading pattern for web content, which we identified in 2006. Over the years, many have referred to this research, sometimes correctly, and in many other instances misinterpreting it.",
  "method": "Eyetracking studies (2006, repeated with mobile in 2017).",
  "drift": [
    "NN/g says the F-shape is one of several scanning patterns and is a sign of poorly formatted content, not a design goal"
  ],
  "interest": "NN/g sells UX research and training.",
  "safe_rephrasing": "Nielsen Norman Group's eyetracking (first in 2006) found users often scan text-heavy pages in an F-shape; NN/g stresses it is one of several patterns and a symptom of hard-to-scan content.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "NN/g — F-shaped pattern",
      "url": "https://www.nngroup.com/articles/f-shaped-pattern-reading-web-content/",
      "primary": true
    }
  ],
  "kind": "reference_fact",
  "as_of": "Pattern identified 2006; revisited 2017",
  "last_checked": "2026-10-16",
  "stale": false,
  "date_reviewed": "2026-10-16",
  "license": "CC BY 4.0",
  "license_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}