The Poynter Institute is launching a new round of eyetrack research
aimed at learning how people read and absorb the news. Over the next
four months, the team -- led by Poynter's
Sara Quinn and
Pegie Stark Adam
-- will test 600 subjects in four U.S. cities. The research, which
begins July 24 in Denver, will address critical questions confronting
today's publishers of news, in print and online.
|
KEY QUESTIONS |
Some of the key questions EyeTrack '07 will address:
- In what sequence do readers travel through newspaper and Web pages, from element to element?
- Where do readers enter newspaper and Web pages?
- Do readers read lead stories in print and online?
- Do readers read "jumps"? Do they look at teasers?
- How much of print and online stories do readers read?
- What types of headlines do readers look at most often? Largest or secondary, traditional or engaging?
- Do readers click on interactive opportunities in online pages?
- How do readers look at advertising in print and online? How does
online ad style (flashing, fly-in, drop-down, etc.) impact reading?
| |
Building on the results of Poynter's
landmark eyetracking research
published in 1991 and subsequent eyetracking studies for online, the
'07 study will determine how readers travel through newspaper and Web
pages differently, which elements print and online readers are drawn to
first, how they enter a page, and how they use navigational cues.
Do readers look at editorial teasers and promos? Do alternative story
forms -- timelines, summary graphs or information boxes -- lead people
to read and comprehend more?
"Our goal," Quinn says, "is to help
editors and publishers understand how deeply people are reading, which
navigational tools maximize reader understanding and which story forms
are most effective in conveying information. Because the study adheres
to the highest research standards, we'll be able to offer industry
leaders scientific accuracy on which to base the editing decisions they
make every day."
Using state-of-the-art eyetracking equipment, test subjects will read prototypes and "live" newspapers -- the
Rocky Mountain News in this first five-day test -- while tiny cameras mounted on
specialized glasses
record eye movement and general patterns of behavior. "We're studying
real news in real time," Quinn says. "By using live material, we're
able to test the habits of regular readers and the news sources with
which they’re most familiar."
To code and help analyze the data
it gathers this year, Poynter has partnered with the University of
Florida and the New York-based research firm,
Mediamark.
UF coders will spend weeks assigning numerical codes to recorded points
of gaze, a tedious but necessary task to ensure scientifically reliable
data. Mediamark researchers will interpret and analyze data for
unveiling at Poynter and across the country beginning next spring.
Poynter published its first groundbreaking eyetrack study 15 years ago. Working with internationally known newspaper designer
Mario Garcia,
Pegie Stark Adam assisted in conducting and writing the original study,
"Eyes on the News." It revealed, among other things, that most people
enter a newspaper page through the dominant photo, then move to
headlines, cutlines and secondary elements before reading the
story. That study established design principles still followed in
newspapers around the world.
"In general, text was the last
point reached in the reader's journey," Adam says. "It was amazing to
learn that most readers did not enter through a lead story as many
editors assumed."
Original findings also revealed that newspaper
readers see facing pages as one unit and that they read from right to
left, lending credence to the belief that right-page advertising is
read first. In 1990, color was key and eyetracking proved its solidity
as a navigational device. "Today, color is everywhere and utilized in
intelligent, new ways," Adam says. "It will be interesting to see which
of our initial findings hold true."
Poynter's
eyetrack studies of reading online found that many Web readers were
drawn first to dominant headlines rather than photos, that they read
from left to right and that smaller type promoted focused reading,
while larger type encouraged scanning. In general, briefs were not well
read, although short paragraphs within larger stories were. The current
study will re-examine these observations.
In August, the EyeTrack '07 team will test at two other news organizations.
St. Petersburg Times' readers will be tested at Poynter before the team flies to Minneapolis-St. Paul to record the habits of
Star Tribune
readers. This fall the team will visit a second tabloid -- which
one is not yet confirmed -- and testing will be completed by the
beginning of November.
Said Adam: "The '07 study goes deeper
(than previous studies); with 600 subjects reading real newspapers, Web
sites and prototypes, it's much broader in scope than previous studies.
After we published the results of the first study, people asked if
readers remembered what they read. Our current study includes a test
for comprehension and engagement, so we'll be able to answer that
question as well."
Poynter Program Assistant Jessica Sandler is a member of the EyeTrack '07 team. Also assisting are Multimedia Editor Larry Larsen, Instructional & Technology Manager Dave Pierson, A/V Systems Coordinator Jeff Saffan and IT Specialist Sandy Johnakin. The team also includes University of Florida researchers Mary Ann Ferguson and Cristina Popescu, Mediamark research analysts Sharon Polansky and Susan Weiss, and Chief News Scout Anne Glover and Lead Designer Adam Newman of tbt*.
