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F Pattern
Users read the top of a page across, drop down a bit and scan part of the next line, then trail their eyes down the left edge — describing the shape of an F. Dominant on text-heavy pages with weak visual hierarchy.
F
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Z Pattern
Eyes travel across the top, diagonally down to the lower-left, then across the bottom — tracing a Z. Common on sparse pages with a few focal elements and a clear call-to-action.
Z
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Marking Pattern
A reader's gaze sticks to one vertical band while scrolling — typically the center column. Common on mobile and during continuous-scroll reading where the cursor or thumb leads the eye.
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Spotted Pattern
Users skip large sections of content and land on visually distinct spots — buttons, prices, numbers, or boldface — like finding islands of meaning across a sea of text.
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Layer-Cake Pattern
Eyes glide from heading to heading down the page, skipping body text entirely — only diving in when a heading promises something relevant. Hierarchy carries the entire experience.
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Bypassing Pattern
When lines share repeated openings — "Step 1:", "Note:", "Tip:" — readers skip the prefix entirely and jump straight to the unique content. Their eyes literally bypass redundant text.
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Commitment Pattern
When motivation is high — researching a major purchase, reading something they care about — users abandon scanning shortcuts and read deliberately, comprehensively, almost every word. The rarest pattern, reserved for content that has earned attention.