The thinking is that if any task takes more than 3 clicks to complete, a visitor will not complete the task. It is one of the oldest pillars of website usability design.

So is it over emphasised?

Although the 3-click rule can make you think about your page hierarchy we believe it is only one of the items you need to consider. Yes if you have a step of tasks then you should be limiting the number of clicks but the major rule is design to what the user wants and expects.

You must consider and provide:

• Detailed search to enable people to jump to what they are looking for.
• Common menu system on every page so that they always know how to get somewhere.
• Keep the pages simple. Visitors will not detail read they will first scan the page looking for key items like headings, links, bold text etc.  Only if it is interesting will they then go through back in more detail.
• Get a balance of pictures/images and text. Too many of one or the other will put people off. Images should be used to enhance content and not replace as now people too often associate images with banner advertising of which more and more people ignore.
• Search engine optimisation. You need to design for the visitor with search engines in mind and not the other way around. A high bounce rate in Google Analytics indicates the wrong balance in that people are finding you but the content is not relevant.

In Summary

Yes the 3-Click rule is relevant but not in isolation. You must consider all elements of website design and find the correct balance between them.