Eyetracking the News
A Study of Print and Online Reading
"Eyetracking" is an interesting new field that is quickly development that studies the way people's eyes focus on different objects. It has been used to help design ATMs, cars, and many other engineered goods (Poynter, N.d.). This field of research has been conducted since the early 1990s and has provided many insights into the things people look at. For example, the research has shown that photos typically attract more attention than other things one a page -- though it doesn't seem to matter whether the photo is in color or if the image is in black and white. Furthermore, there is a typical process that has emerged for the majority of readers and how the engage with print or online reading.
The individuals will first start with a picture, then look for teasers or headlines, and then they will finally start to look at the text. If there is a two page spread, people will generally scan from right to left. Generally the text is the last thing that a reader will look at. However, the generalizations are different for print vs. online reading. For example, online readers will actually look at the text first before checking out the photos and graphics. Since webpages are typically more interactive, this changes many of the dynamics of the eye movements of viewers.
For example, on a webpage the viewer will first look at the top left of the page before scanning from left to right. Other interesting points include the fact that any break in the text on a webpage discourages people to keep reading. The break acts like a stopping point and viewers have to make a decision to pick up reading in the new section -- in many cases they will stop reading if they are not interested in the content. It's almost like a break gives them an excuse to stop reading. The study also indicates that single columns garner more attention than multiple columns and shorter paragraphs are better than longer ones. The research is fascinating and provides a lot of insights into how to design content for print and online viewing.
