The Z-pattern describes how users scan pages that are predominantly visual rather than text-heavy. The eye starts at the top-left (logo/brand), sweeps across the top-right (navigation/CTA), drops diagonally to the bottom-left (secondary content), then sweeps across to the bottom-right (primary CTA or next action). It's the natural scanning pattern for pages with images, minimal text, and clear focal points.
Most landing page hero sections follow the Z-pattern naturally. That's why the standard layout of "logo top-left, nav top-right, headline center-left, CTA button center-right or bottom" works — it aligns with the path the eye already wants to take. The CTA at the end of the Z gets the benefit of being the last thing the eye lands on, which is a natural decision point.
Designing for the Z-pattern
Place your four most important elements at the four "corners" of the Z: brand identity (top-left), navigation CTA or login (top-right), headline and value proposition (center, where the diagonal crosses), and primary CTA (bottom of the visible area). This isn't prescriptive — it's descriptive of what already works.
The Z-pattern applies per-screen, not per-page. As users scroll, each new screenful gets its own Z-scan. This is why alternating image-text sections work well for feature presentations — each one creates a fresh Z-pattern. It's also why full-width images with centered text break the flow: there's nothing at the Z corners to anchor the eye, so the gaze wanders without direction.