Minesweeping

What are the reasons behind minesweeping? 

• It may not be immediately clear where links are placed on a page 
• Users are visiting a page or website for the first time or the first time in a while 
• A small child may find it enjoyable when exploring technology 

How is minesweeping related to UX? 

For better UX, it’s ideal to limit the amount of minesweeping a user has to do. Most adults dislike this action, and it can be avoided with an optimized navigation design. This could mean following tooltip best practices and designing links to be easily identifiable, whether with arrows, highlighted text, underlining, color contrast, or icons.

And as often as possible, a website or app should be designed so that users can easily decipher what’s clickable and what’s not. A user may be frustrated from clicking on what looks like a link to find that it’s actually not. By obtaining user feedback before launch, you’ll be able to pinpoint any weak spots in your product’s navigation and usability.