How People Move Through an Online Memorial

KERINOR
The online memorial guide

How People Move Through an Online Memorial
Visitors rarely move through an online memorial in a fixed or linear way. Instead of reading from beginning to end, they scan, pause, and navigate based on visual cues. Movement is shaped by attention rather than structure.

Non-linear navigation
Unlike books or formal documents, online memorials are not consumed in sequence. Visitors may begin at the top, scroll briefly, jump to images, or stop after only a few seconds.

There is no guaranteed path. Movement follows interest, not order.

Scanning behaviour
Most visitors scan rather than read. They look for:

Images
Short text sections
Familiar names or moments

This allows meaning to be gathered quickly without committing to full reading.

Pausing at visual points
Images act as natural stopping points. Visitors scroll until something captures attention, pause, and then continue. These pauses define the rhythm of the visit.

Without strong visual anchors, movement becomes faster and less focused.

Selective engagement
Not all content is viewed equally. Visitors choose what to engage with and what to skip. Long sections of text are often bypassed, while images and short messages receive more attention.

Engagement is uneven by default.

Short visits, repeated visits
Many visits are brief. A visitor may spend only a short time, then return later. Each visit may focus on different elements.

Understanding is built through multiple short interactions rather than a single continuous session.

Entry and exit points
Visitors do not always enter at the beginning. They may arrive through a shared link, a search result, or a specific section. They may also leave at any point, often without reaching the end.

Start-to-finish structure is rarely followed.

The role of structure
Movement is flexible, but structure still matters. Clear layout, spacing, and organisation guide attention. When structure is unclear, visitors move faster and engage less.

Structure supports movement, even when it does not control it.

A broader pattern
This behaviour is not unique to memorials. Across digital environments, users move based on visual hierarchy and perceived relevance.

Memorials follow the same pattern.

What this means in practice
Understanding movement changes how memorials should be designed. Content should be:

Easy to scan
Visually structured
Accessible in short segments

This aligns the memorial with actual behaviour rather than assumed behaviour.