Most people don’t read websites slow and carefully like we wish they did.
They scan them.
Their eyes move quickly, looking for structure and cues that help them decide what the page is about, whether it’s worth their time, and where they should focus next.
Good design makes that process easy. Poor design makes users work harder than they should.
When I think about scannability, it almost always comes back to hierarchy — specifically how scale, color, and spacing work together.
Scale
The layout of your typography should feel predictable.
When someone lands on a page, they should immediately be able to tell what the main headline is, what supports it, and what’s just additional detail. That comes from consistent scale.
You achieve this by making sure your headings and body text follow a clear cascade. The H1 is the most prominent, H2s step down from that, and body copy is clearly secondary.
If an H2 is bigger than an H1, or if paragraph text feels louder than a headline, the hierarchy starts to get lost. When that happens, scanning becomes harder.
A good rule of thumb is that someone should understand the structure of the page just by skimming the headings, without reading the paragraphs at all.
Color
Color plays a big role in scannability because it directs your attention faster than almost anything else.
That’s why it’s important to be intentional with it.
Headings should stand out more than body copy. CTAs should stand out more than surrounding elements. Supporting text should stay visually “quiet”.
If everything is high-contrast or red, the page loses its sense of order. When that happens, users don’t know where to look first, and scanning turns into guessing.
I tend to think of color less as decoration and more as a way to guide the eye through the page in the right order.
Spacing
Spacing is one of the easiest things to overlook, but it has a huge impact on how readable a page feels.
Good spacing helps users instantly understand what belongs together.
A heading should clearly connect to the paragraph below it. Buttons should feel tied to the content they relate to. Sections should feel distinct.
When elements are spaced too far apart, they start to feel disjointed. And when spacing is inconsistent, the natural flow of reading isn’t natural anymore. Both make scanning harder than it needs to be.
Whitespace isn’t about making a layout feel minimal or modern. It’s about giving focus to your content that allows readers to digest it easier and faster.
Design to Dollars takeaway
Scannability has a direct impact on results.
If users can quickly understand what a page is about and what to do next, they’re more likely to stay, engage, and take action. If they have to slow down and figure things out, overwhelm creeps in fast.
Hierarchy is what makes pages feel easy to use. Scale, color, and spacing aren’t just design details — they’re what help turn attention into action.
That’s where design starts to connect to dollars.
