Website Layout Statistics

Question

I have a client who has suggested laying out a long list of categories in a custom order. The order is to be decided by them based on product items they sell the most etc.

I tend to disagree and feel that people browsing the internet prefer to search lists of categories that are in alphabetical order or sorted by something they can take reference of such as a date.

I would like to know others thoughts on this and it would be appreciated if anyone could point me in the direction of any open source surveys that have been taken in this area.

Thanks Ben

Answer 1

What a silly stance to take regarding a simple customer request. Allow for both orderings, and other ones too. There is no survey that will demonstrate that the client is wrong as they are - by definition - correct.

Code that allows for different orderings has greater utility anyway, and real user data will be able to show them which - if either - should be the default.