The camera reads while you read

 
Eye tracking A systematic study by the Poynter Institute aims to identify general reading habits in print and online. 
Eye-tracking studies have a long tradition at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, a research and training center for journalists and people who want to become journalists. The first study at the Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, was conducted in 1990. This study, in which star newspaper designer Mario Garcia played a major role, introduced design principles that are still valid today. Now the results of the third, most elaborate and probably most productive study to date have been published.
The scientific directors of this year's eye-tracking study, Sara Quinn and Pegie Stark Adam, set themselves the goal of obtaining scientifically relevant data on reading habits and news reception. "We want to help publishers and editors understand how deeply readers read, which navigation tools maximize reading comprehension and which story forms convey information most efficiently," said Sara Quinn in the run-up to the study.
To do this, the research team first had to define and precisely describe all possible journalistic forms. A total of 150 different elements were identified, ranging from captions and headlines to links and quotes. Day after day, stickers with the respective codes were meticulously attached to the newspapers that were to be tested. Only then could the actual work begin.
600 test subjects in four US cities were tested. The test subjects had to read their usual newspaper for 15 minutes without having held it in their hands beforehand. A pair of glasses with a small camera measured the number and duration of eye stops. The results were then decoded and analyzed.
In print media, large photos and headlines were noticed much more than small ones. Online readers, on the other hand, paid the most attention to navigation bars and teasers. In broadsheets, color photos attracted about 20 percent more attention than black and white photos. Documentary photos performed better than posed photos.
However, small portrait photos were usually overlooked. Alternative story forms, for example, texts prepared with graphics, quotes and short information, received 15 percent more attention on average than regular text presentations. In the broadsheet, the proportion even rose to 34 percent. Tabloid readers read more text overflow on average than broadsheet readers, namely 68 percent compared to 59 percent.
Short reports with illustrations worked better than text-only reports. Teasers with photos and other illustrations attracted attention in print. The arrangement on the page was essential. Text-image teasers received the most attention at the top right of a broadsheet newspaper. Teasers containing only text received the most attention at the bottom right of a page. In the tabloid, visual teasers at the bottom right of the front page received the most attention.
Another series of tests involved prototypes of a report prepared in six different narrative forms - three print versions (see illustration below) and three web versions - whereby the content was not changed. The main focus here was on how much of what was read was remembered and understood. Version 1 was prepared conventionally with a headline, running text and photo. Variant 2 also included a map and an info box. Variant 3 was alternatively designed with a sideline interview, bar chart and other graphic storytelling elements.
The test subjects were each given a version of the prototype to read, without comparing it with the other versions. The readers were not aware of the time limit or what would be tested. After five minutes, they were stopped and had to answer five questions about the content of the text. The result of this test run was that the readers who had read variant 3 were able to remember most of the facts.
156 test subjects answered seven out of nine questions correctly. 46 percent of them had read variant 3, 28 percent variant 2 and 26 percent variant 1. The online version with the more unconventional structure also had the highest recall value. Nevertheless, the results differed greatly from the print version. Only 25 percent of online readers were able to answer seven out of nine questions correctly. It is also interesting to note that although the content was the same, readers had the impression that the more structured story was better researched and therefore more credible.
The researchers were able to identify two different types of reading behavior: the methodical reader and the skimming reader. Methodical readers - around 75 percent of print readers and around half of online readers - read from top to bottom without skimming the page. They also read some text passages a second time. Online, they used drop-down menus and navigation bars to discover stories that interested them.
Skimming readers scanned pages for headlines and other highlighted elements, read parts of the story, skipped to the photo or other elements, and didn't go back to the same place in the text where they left off reading. Online, they jumped across the screen, looked at different elements and eventually clicked on a story to read.
Online, there was little difference in the amount of text read between the different reading types (around 77%). In print, the methodical reader read more (65% compared to 57%) in both broadsheet and tabloid. The skimming reader read the least in tabloid (45%). Future studies will be devoted to news on large format and mini displays.
Doris Oberneder
"Eyetracking the News - A Study of Print and Online Reading" can be ordered at:
http://www.poynter.org/shop/product_view.asp?id=1193
 
More on the subject:
"We need more information"
QuotesThe following quotes illustrate the complexity of the interplay between content and form in newspaper design.
"When you decide on a story form, you have to be guided by content."
Pegie Stark Adam
"All elements must work together to convey the message clearly."
Sara Quinn
"I want to encourage journalists, photographers, publishers and designers to work together to create packages and lead stories."
Pegie Stark Adam
The studyWho was tested:
Nearly 600 readers in four different American cities (readers of the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, The St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times, Star Tribune in Minneapolis and Philadelphia Daily News)Composition of the readership studied:
56% 18-41 years, 44% 42-65 years (average age 39 years). 49% men, 51% women. 29% of the readers tested read the newspaper 1-3 times a week, 71% 4 times or more. 87% have a degree, 75% are employed.