noise

Noise is the enemy of information. Noise prevents the transmitted information from completely reaching its recipient. It can confuse or destroy meaning.

Noise is anything added to the signal that's not intended by the source. Usually 'noise' is an unintended byproduct of the situation; for example, smudged or illegible print, 'ah-um-er' vocal filler, or visual movement that distracts the recipient.

Online contexts suffer from new kinds of 'noise' as well as that affecting older media. These include:

• slow download speeds;
• distracting graphics, sounds and animations;
• inappropriate design (e.g. pages too wide, text too big or small, lack of contrast between text and background);
• inappropriate writing (e.g. text chunks too long, too much detail at the 'top' level, text inappropriately structured);
• links without obvious destinations or in too great an abundance;
• confusing navigation;
• banner ads and other click-through advertising;
• proliferating pop-up windows, cookies and other extraneous bits of programming.

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