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How many images should be updated or rotated in on a slideshow carousel that features things like products or articles?

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There is some research that shows that Carousels are not so effective (Don't use Automatic image sliders or Carousels) – alexeypegov Nov 18 '12 at 9:12
haha Thanks Alexey. I've got a client asking for one. He just wants to know how many images he should use. But you make an excellent point. – Tyler Langan Nov 18 '12 at 9:34
I would second what @AlexeyPegov said. In every usability test I've done with carousels the people using the site have either not taken notice of them, disliked them, or not actually followed up on anything past the first image. Yet to see them work in a useful way. Don't know why people use 'em. – adrianh Nov 18 '12 at 10:48
Thanks Adrianh. So if you had very large rotating "lifestyle" images with headlines, it would be ignored? I'm reading people have banner-blindness to carousels. – Tyler Langan Nov 18 '12 at 15:23

2 Answers

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I think I read you should automatically load no more than three images. Don Norman or Jakob Nielsen made the suggestion, but I can't find the report again on their websites.

Edit: Why is this being down voted? Let me clarify. I can't find the report again on their websites. I was having a bad user experience. The answer is 3.

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It's being downvoted because saying "The answer is X because Y said so" is a crappy answer. If you want to claim it reduces load time, say so. If you want to claim users won't stick around long enough to get past the first three images, say so. Appealing to a higher authority is just passing the buck -- you may as well claim Pi is 3 because the Bible says so. – Rachel Keslensky Nov 22 '12 at 4:46
up vote 1 down vote

I found a similar question for mobile sites, which unfortunately also did not have a definitive answer:

How many photos should be in a slideshow for mobile on page load?

As I expected, the answer given for this question also indicates that the maximum number of slides should be as many as an average user would view at one time. I would expect this number to be about 4-6, but I couldn't find a specific number anywhere. This would probably require user testing as the content of the slides would greatly affect this. For example, slides with more text and information should be shown for longer (and I have seen many sites that do this terribly) and there should probably be less slides as it involves more effort on the user's part to view each one. A carousel with single images can scroll more quickly and therefore should include more, as a user will reach the end sooner.

In my searching, I also found this great resource that may be helpful for you as you are designing your carousel:

http://uxmovement.com/navigation/big-usability-mistakes-designers-make-on-carousels/

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