Poynter Eye-Tracking Study
Poynter Institute conducted an eye-tracking study in 2007. The research was to find what elements in a newspaper or online news site attract readers. The study found that online participants read an average of 77 percent of story text they chose to read. While newspapers participants read an average of 62 percent of stories they selected. There are some elements that attract readers on the web that could also carry over to newspapers.
The study shows that big, bold headlines capture readers attention. While online users first looked at the navigation bars to locate content, print readers enter the paper through headlines. This means that papers should focus on their headlines. Their top stories should have the largest headlines, the most important articles should be the focus of the page.
Short briefs were also among the most read. Because they are short and tight, readers were more attracted to them. Keeping a story shorter is appealing to both scanners and methodical readers. The scanner is more likely to read the entire brief because it has the essential information all compacted in a short story. Briefs with pictures work best and gain the most attention.
Photos in general are appealing to readers. The study found that large, color, documentary style photographs are better. These candid photos attracted more attention than the traditional staged pictures, such as mug shots and stock photos. Given this information, newspapers should consider spending more money on bigger, more colorful photographs. A story accompanied by a bold picture is more likely to be read than one with a small photo or without one at all.
Maps and explanatory graphics are also an essential part of readers’ consumption of news. Alternative story forms such as Q & A’s, timelines, lists, fact boxes and maps are extremely helpful in getting information to a reader. When surfing the net a reader can simply click on a link to additional information or video to find the alternative story form. But for print, the extra box or graphic needs to be located next to the full story. That way the reader can simply look over the next column to get that extra information that might be more interesting than reading the whole story.
