Use of Space Examples for Q&A Pages
Here are some examples for Q&A (question and answer) pages. Q&A pages with good use of space should devote much or most of the space to the questions and answers, and the layout/use of space should make the question and the answers clear. Good layout might also help users understand at a glance how many answers there are and which are the best answers, as well as clearly highlight the author and the dates of the answers. The SC should play a supporting role on the sides of the page, and Ads should be clearly distinguished from the SC and the answers.

Use of Space Rating

Use of Space Q&A Example

Explanation

misleading or deceptive

Misleading or

Deceptive

The use of space in this example is poor or even deceptive. The Ads and SC take up most of the space. The page also uses the same "look" (color, font, and layout of the text), both for answers to the question and for the Ads/links, making it very difficult to distinguish which are answers to the question and which are Ads. (There are other aspects of this page which make it overall Lowest quality: there are no features for users to rate the answers, and the page is overwhelmed by Ads and links.)

poor

Poor

This is another example of a Q&A page that has poor use of space. This question does not have an answer, but it might take you a while to realize this. The page has a lot of SC and Ads, much of which is shown where you would expect answers to be displayed. There is a section called "Relevant answers," but in fact these are pages from the same website with different questions, many of which are actually unrelated to this question. The "Relevant answers" section should be considered SC. Compare the page to this example used earlier: MC Q&A Unsatisfying Quantity
The use of space in the earlier example makes it immediately obvious that the question is unanswered. Of course, with no answer, we will consider
MC Q&A Unsatisfying Quantity overall Low quality, even though the use of space and layout is good.

good

Good

This is an example of good layout and good use of space on a Q&A page, It's very clear what each part of the page is. The question is immediately visible, the authors are next to the questions and answers, all responses are dated, and the answers are sorted according to user feedback so that the best answer is at the top, immediately following the question.

Note: The overall PQ rating for this page is Medium.

Note: Invasive pop-ups or large flashing/animated/distracting Ads that cannot easily be closed are an example of poor use of space because they take attention away from the MC. Here is an example of a page with a pop-up that cannot be closed: Annoying Pop-Up
This page is considered "misleading or deceptive" and should get an overall PQ rating of Lowest.
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