1. THE POYNTER INSTITUTE FOR MEDIA STUDIES
@saraquinn
EyeTrack:TabletResearch

2. Howdopeople
choosewhattoread?

3. Andhowdotheyread,
oncetheychoose?

5. Weaskedthem.

6. Weaskedthem.

7. Wewatchedthem.

9. Andwelookedclosely
athowtheyinteracted
withthestories.

11. Female Male52% 48%
Wetested36peoplewhohadeachused
atabletforatleastsixmonths.
THE PEOPLE:

12. “Digital Natives” “Printnets”
18-28 years old 45-55 years old48% 52%
Wetestedtwo,distinctagegroups.
THE PEOPLE:

13. Morepeopleexpressedapreferenceforusing
atabletinahorizontalorlandscapeorientation.
THE PEOPLE:
30%
70%Landscape Portrait

14. Morepeopleexpressedapreferenceforusing
atabletinahorizontalorlandscapeorientation.
THE PEOPLE:
30%
70%Landscape Portrait

15. THE TESTING PROTOCOL:
Theeyetrackingglassescontainedtwosmall
cameras—onethatrecordedeyemovement
andanotherthatrecordedwherethereaderlooked.

16. Westandardizedexperiencetolimitvariables.
We used one kind of tablet, an iPad presented
in landscape orientation on a wedge-like pillow.
THE TESTING PROTOCOL:

17. Weaskedthemtoreadforfirstforfiveminutes.
Wewantedthemtobecomfortableinthe
testingenvironment.
THE TESTING PROTOCOL:

18. Eachpersonthenreadoneofourprototypes
forapproximatelytenminutes.
THE TESTING PROTOCOL:

19. ThePoynterprototypes

20. Traditional, INSPIRED BY THE BOSTON GLOBE AND THE NEW YORK TIMES
THE PROTOTYPES:

21. Carousel, INSPIRED BY NPR AND PULSE
THE PROTOTYPES:

22. Tile, INSPIRED BY FLIPBOARD
THE PROTOTYPES:

23. Traditional Carousel Tile
Wewantedtocomparehowpeoplechoseastory.

24. Traditional Carousel Tile

25. Thestories

26. THE STORIES: TEXT WITH A STILL PHOTO

27. THE STORIES: TEXT WITH A STILL GRAPHIC
A Lost Secret: The once and future way to run

28. THE STORIES: SLIDESHOWS

29. THE STORIES: SLIDESHOWS

30. THE STORIES: TEXT WITH A VIDEO

31. THE STORIES: VIDEO

32. THE STORIES: POP-UP GRAPHICS

33. THE STORIES: POP-UP GRAPHICS

34. THE STORIES: POP-UP GRAPHICS

35. POP-UP GRAPHICS = TOUCH AND SURPRISE

36. POP-UP GRAPHICS = TOUCH AND SURPRISE

37. POP-UP GRAPHICS = TOUCH AND SURPRISE

38. POP-UP GRAPHICS = TOUCH AND SURPRISE

39. POP-UP GRAPHICS = TOUCH AND SURPRISE

43. THE STORIES: POP-UP GRAPHICS

44. Thisishowtheychose.
FINDINGS

45. 4%
13%
83%
83percentsaidthetraditionalprototypewas
mostsimilartowhattheyregularlyuse.
Traditional
Carousel
Tile
THE PROTOTYPES:

46. 50percentsaidtheywouldchoose
thecarouseldesign.
15%
50%
35%
Traditional
Tile
THE PROTOTYPES:
Carousel

47. Commentsaboutthetiledesign:
“It’s tidier. I can get through it to save time.”
THE PROTOTYPES:

48. Commentsaboutthetiledesign:
“It’s tidier. I can get through it to save time.”
“(It) is more focused.”
THE PROTOTYPES:

49. Commentsaboutthetiledesign:
“It’s tidier. I can get through it to save time.”
“(It) is more focused.”
BUT OTHER PEOPLE SAID ...
“Makes me work too hard.”
THE PROTOTYPES:

50. Commentsaboutthetiledesign:
“It’s tidier. I can get through it to save time.”
“(It) is more focused.”
BUT OTHER PEOPLE SAID ...
“Makes me work too hard.”
“Makes me do another click.”
THE PROTOTYPES:

51. Commentsaboutthetiledesign:
“It’s tidier. I can get through it to save time.”
“(It) is more focused.”
BUT OTHER PEOPLE SAID ...
“Makes me work too hard.”
“Makes me do another click.”
“I definitely don’t like the
‘mystery meat’ of having
to guess what’s behind
an image.”
THE PROTOTYPES:

52. Commentsaboutthetraditionaldesign:
“I like hierarchy.”
THE PROTOTYPES:

53. Commentsaboutthetraditionaldesign:
“I like hierarchy.”
“I am big on written context.
That’s just me. The more
description I can get, the
more I like it.”
THE PROTOTYPES:

54. Commentsaboutthetraditionaldesign:
“I like hierarchy.”
“I am big on written context.
That’s just me. The more
description I can get, the
more I like it.”
“I don’t want to see a
democratized judgement.
I like to see that some editor
has made a judgement for me
about what is important.”
THE PROTOTYPES:

55. Thecarouselwasthefavorite,butitalsodrewthe
mostintensereactions,bothproandcon.
THE PROTOTYPES:
15%
50%
35%
Traditional
Tile
Carousel

56. Peoplewholikedthecarouseldesignsaid:
“It’s like a food buffet—you know what looks appetizing.”
THE PROTOTYPES:

57. Peoplewholikedthecarouseldesignsaid:
“It’s like a food buffet—you know what looks appetizing.”
“The carousel gives me a
quicker idea of what’s
there to read.”
THE PROTOTYPES:

58. Peoplewholikedthecarouseldesignsaid:
“It’s like a food buffet—you know what looks appetizing.”
“The carousel gives me a
quicker idea of what’s
there to read.”
“I am always drawn to photos
first. The carousel seems to
give me more choices than
the other designs.”
THE PROTOTYPES:

59. Peoplewholikedthecarouseldesignsaid:
“It’s like a food buffet—you know what looks appetizing.”
“The carousel gives me a
quicker idea of what’s
there to read.”
“I am always drawn to photos
first. The carousel seems to
give me more choices than
the other designs.”
“Pictures can say a lot.”
THE PROTOTYPES:

60. Peoplewholikedthecarouseldesignsaid:
“It’s like a food buffet—you know what looks appetizing.”
“The carousel gives me a
quicker idea of what’s
there to read.”
“I am always drawn to photos
first. The carousel seems to
give me more choices than
the other designs.”
“Pictures can say a lot.”
“It helps me to make a
decision quickly.”
THE PROTOTYPES:

61. Peoplewhodidn’tlikethecarouseldesignsaid:
“The carousel might be overwhelming.
THE PROTOTYPES:
Carousel

62. Peoplewhodidn’tlikethecarouseldesignsaid:
“The carousel might be overwhelming.
“The carousel is too busy.
I don’t know which to
look at first.”
THE PROTOTYPES:
Carousel

63. Peoplewhodidn’tlikethecarouseldesignsaid:
“The carousel might be overwhelming.
“The carousel is too busy.
I don’t know which to
look at first.”
“The carousel prevents me
from focusing on the print.”
THE PROTOTYPES:
Carousel

64. Peoplewhodidn’tlikethecarouseldesignsaid:
“The carousel might be overwhelming.
“The carousel is too busy.
I don’t know which to
look at first.”
“The carousel prevents me
from focusing on the print.”
“I don’t like carousels.
I (end up looking at)
stupid stuff because I look
at the photos, instead of
the headlines. I would
never want to read about
the Broadway show, ‘Cats,’
but I am drawn to the photo!”
THE PROTOTYPES:
Carousel

65. Peoplewhodidn’tlikethecarouseldesignsaid:
“The carousel might be overwhelming.
“The carousel is too busy.
I don’t know which to
look at first.”
“The carousel prevents me
from focusing on the print.”
“I don’t like carousels.
I (end up looking at)
stupid stuff because I look
at the photos, instead of
the headlines. I would
never want to read about
the Broadway show, ‘Cats,’
but I am drawn to the photo!”
THE PROTOTYPES:

66. Peoplewhodidn’tlikethecarouseldesignsaid:
“The carousel might be overwhelming.
“The carousel is too busy.
I don’t know which to
look at first.”
“The carousel prevents me
from focusing on the print.”
“I don’t like carousels.
I (end up looking at)
stupid stuff because I look
at the photos, instead of
the headlines. I would
never want to read about
the Broadway show, ‘Cats,’
but I am drawn to the photo!”
THE PROTOTYPES:

67. Thebehaviors
FINDINGS

68. Peopletendedtoenterthroughadominantelement.
THE BEHAVIORS:

69. ThisechoesearlierEyeTrackfindings.
THE BEHAVIORS:
X

70. Inlieuofacleardominantelement,
facesalsodrewalotofattention.
THE BEHAVIORS:

71. Inlieuofacleardominantelement,
facesalsodrewalotofattention.
THE BEHAVIORS:

72. Peoplefixated18timesbeforechoosing
theirfirststory.
THE BEHAVIORS:

73. Peoplefixated18timesbeforechoosing
theirfirststory.
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
THE BEHAVIORS:
X
XX
XX
X
X
X
X

74. But…
THE BEHAVIORS:

75. …Peoplewhodidnotfinishreadingtheirfirststory
fixatedonlyninetimesbeforechoosing.
THE BEHAVIORS:
X X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

76. Anoverallaverageofaminuteandahalf
(98.3seconds)wasspentonthefirststory
apersonselectedtoread.
THE BEHAVIORS:

77. Anoverallaverageofaminuteandahalf
(98.3seconds)wasspentonthefirststory
apersonselectedtoread.
Ofthepeoplewhodidnotfinishreadingastory,
theyreadforanaverageof78.3seconds
beforeleavingthestoryentirely.
THE BEHAVIORS:

78. Anoverallaverageofaminuteandahalf
(98.3seconds)wasspentonthefirststory
apersonselectedtoread.
Ofthepeoplewhodidnotfinishreadingastory,
theyreadforanaverageof78.3seconds
beforeleavingthestoryentirely.
We’vebeencallingthisthe“bailoutpoint.”
THE BEHAVIORS:

79. Anditmightbeagoodbenchmarkfor
establishinga“goldcoin”likeasimple
pulloutquoteorvisualelementthat
keepsthereaderengagedabout
halfwaythroughalongstory.
THE BEHAVIORS:

80. THE BEHAVIORS:
67percentusednativecontrols,likethebackbutton
togettotheirsecondstory.

81. THE BEHAVIORS:
…eventhoughnavtoolswerebuiltin.

82. THE BEHAVIORS:
…eventhoughnavtoolswerebuiltin.
Peoplewilldefaulttowhattheyknow—ifit’savailable.

83. ‘Conventional’tabletUIsuggestshorizontalswipes
switchstories.
THE BEHAVIORS:

84. ‘Conventional’tabletUIsuggestsverticalscrollsgo
deeperinastory.
THE BEHAVIORS:

85. ...but‘Conventional’tabletUIforslideshowsscroll
horizontalinastory.
THE BEHAVIORS:

86. Readersinstinctivelyswipehorizontallythrough
aphotogallery,regardlessoforientation.
THE BEHAVIORS:

87. Veryfewpeopleusedthumbnailstoprogressthrough
thegallery.Themajorityusedadvancebuttons.
THE BEHAVIORS:

88. Thisishowtheyread.
FINDINGS

89. 52%48%
Abouthalfofthepeopletestedreadmethodically,
whilehalfreadinascanningmanner.
Methodical readers Scanning readers
THE BEHAVIORS:

90. Abouthalfofthepeopletestedreadmethodically,
whilehalfreadinascanningmanner.
THE BEHAVIORS:
24%
76% 75%
25%
Printnets
45-55 years
Digital Natives
18-28 years
Methodical
Scanning
Scanning
Methodical

91. 61%39%
61percentofreaderstouchedthescreenfrequently.
Othersweremorehandsoff.
Intimate readersDetached readers
THE BEHAVIORS:

92. Detachedreadingbehavior.
THE BEHAVIORS:

93. Intimatereadingbehavior.
THE BEHAVIORS:

94. THE BEHAVIORS: INTIMATE READING BEHAVIOR
Thesereadersusetheirfingerlikeateleprompter.

95. THE BEHAVIORS: INTIMATE READING BEHAVIOR
Ananalogtoolhelpedpeoplekeeptheirplace,adigital
versionmighthaveaplaceintabletdesign,too.

96. Here’swhythiswas
worthyourtime.
FINDINGS

97. Tabletusershaveahighnumberof
fixationsbeforemakingaselection.
WHAT THEY CHOSE TO READ:

98. Often,theyfixateonthesamestory
multipletimesbeforechoosingit.
WHAT THEY CHOSE TO READ:

99. Morefixationsbeforeaselection
suggeststheuserismorelikelyto
readtocompletion.
WHAT THEY CHOSE TO READ:

100. 80-90secondswasthecritical
‘bailoutpoint.’
HOW THEY READ:

101. 80-90secondswasthecritical
‘bailoutpoint.’
Agoldcoincouldcompel
readerstocontinue.
HOW THEY READ:

102. Youngerreadersaremore
likelytobescanners.
HOW THEY READ:

103. Youngerreadersaremore
likelytobescanners.
Olderreadersaremore
likelytobemethodical.
HOW THEY READ:

104. Youngerreadersaremore
likelytobescanners.
Olderreadersaremore
likelytobemethodical.
Bothreaddeeply,whenthey
foundwhattheywanted.
HOW THEY READ:

105. Andnext?

106. CASE STUDY: TOUCH and DISCOVERY
AmasterclassGUITAR WORLD: THE LICK OF THE DAY
http://www.guitarworld.com/lick-of-the-day