Do people who “Click here” really “Learn More”?

Someone recently asked if “Click Here” was necessary or helpful or if it just made people feel stupid. It seemed inevitable that the discussion would eventually grow to Learn More.

I don’t recall seeing many real buttons on physical objects in the real world saying “click here”, though I suppose it’s theoretically possible that some maybe could benefit from it, it’s generally not done and nobody seems to miss it. Physical properties offer enough self-identification implying, “Hey I’m a button. Push me” that such obvious instructions are rare enough to stir remembrances of Alice in Wonderland.

However, I disagree that such a thing makes people feel stupid. More likely, it makes users conclude that the UI and its designers are stupid, ultimately reflecting badly upon the brand experience.

What really makes people feel stupid, and then generally angry, is a UI that lacks affordances at all or a clear explanation as to what it is, how it operates, what it is doing right now, have I accomplished or not what I intended, and what in the world am I doing here using this piece of crap anyway?

Now, If I take this dissusion into the abstract realm of clicking and learning, implying that  people who explore information, following its interconnections with other information, do learn more than people who do not, there is a lot more that can be said. In fact a lot more has been said and is available on line, which means a lot more  clicking and a lot more learning.

Now the moment of truth when I ask, Did you learn more by clicking here?

-       roger