A while ago you may remember Book Camp, a day of bookish experimentation. On the back of that I’ve been thinking of a bookish experiment and was wondering if it’s been done.
We are seeing a proliferation of reading formats- from grand, Royal hardbacks to reading on the Nintendo DS. Each of these has a different style, a different tempo to how one reads.
I’m convinced that all reading relies on rhythm in some way, a rhythm that is signified by breaks in the text. Turning the page establishes a certain rhythm, just as swiping a page on the iPhone does, or even the lines between tweets. Nonetheless what remains consistent is that we rely on the relationship between rhythm, break and comprehension for our experience of texts.
Big blocks of text have no break and rhythm, hence they are so intimidating to look at and confusing to read. Ebooks fundamentally work as they effectively recreate, if subtly alter, the rhythm and beat of reading long form texts.
My experiment would be something along the lines of: assemble the same text on every different reading platform, device and print mechanism possible. Get a focus group and then either get them to read the passage on every device and answer a series of questions, or get everyone to read on one platform and answer a set series of questions.
The goal would be to try and work out how our understanding and enjoyment of texts shifts with the platform and the various rhythms established. With that data writers and publishers could then start to think of optimising, adapting and even composing content for different reading experiences.
Bindun?
7 Comments
Michael,
I think your idea is excellent! What could make it even better would be to get grant funding and do a full blown study (with published results) instead of a focus group.
There is a specialized subset of the ebook formats that purport to be specialized for textbooks. These formats come with software for annotating, highlighting, and sharing highlights etc. I have long been doubtful about the pedagogical efficacy of this kit.
Much of what we do with ebooks is based on anecdotes and guess work. We as publishers and others in the information cycle could benefit greatly from some evidence.
That’s a fantastic idea and would love to participate and/or see results. As a web writer, I am very much aware of the lengths of my paragraphs. Print can accomodate longer ones but I still prefer to keep them shorter than most writers do.
There is a large body of eyetracking research, which generates heatmaps. Heatmaps are a method of demonstrating what areas of the website were viewed most, and where user’s eyes lingered the longest (indicating areas of most interest).
I blogged about a presentation that I attended in 2007, led by Dr. Kathryn Summers, University of Balitmore & Michael Summmers, Summers Consulting, Inc., in collaboration with Nick Boswell, Tobii Technology.
, at http://joyrenee.wordpress.com/2007/07/02/eyetracking-and-your-website/
Its already well known, and documented, that users read text differently on a website. Jacob Nielsen, on useit.com, has demonstrated that eloquently for over ten years now. But your idea, of determining the reading rhythms of various devices seems to be unique. Perhaps the eyetracking and heatmaps could be used to substantiate your hypothesis.
Thanks for the comments. Joy-I have heard about those eye tracking studies re user interfaces on web sites but completely had thought to transfer them to this. That and the heat maps really could open something interest. I wonder if we reader faster or slower in digital text? If a screen is smaller does that mean our pace picks up? Do our eyes linger longer at the end of paragraphs in large print books.
I am also interested in how the physical interaction shapes the reading experience. If we are struggling to heft a hardback does that effect out pace our rhythm? Equally is it the absence of physical contact that makes us more impatient with text on monitors than with print objects. Certainly I feel myself more likely to finish a newspaper article in the print edition than the digital.
Tim- do you know of any funding bodies that are interested in this kind of research? The more one thinks about it the more possibilities start bubbling up.
Hi Michael – Fascinating. There is also some research on the physiology of reading – ever since I did my project ‘The Breathing Wall’ I’ve been thinking about the relationship between the rhythm of prose and breathing – I can almost convince myself that the way a writer breathes affects the way they write which in turn affects the rhythm of the writing, which in turns affects the breathing of the reader… It’s all to do with wanting to create immersive experiences… Kate
Michael, I think you’ve put your finger right on a key issue that will manifest itself as text migrates into various digital formats.
Its also a key issue for me personally. At Textflows.com we are developing a new way of presenting text on an active screen. The text is broken into meaningful words and phrases which are animated into place with motion and fading. By dividing the text as the eye and brain would we are relieving the reader/viewer of some effort, and by adding the motion we add engagement. Here’s an example: http://textflows.com/flow/110
Pacing is a vital part of the presentation. Our tool allows the speed to be controlled by the reader but the relative pacing of the text is determined by the author. Our authoring tools provide fine control over timing and pacing. It’d be very nice to have some research-based heuristics to help set appropriate defaults.
We are early in the game and do not have a significant reader feedback as of yet. I’d love to hear the results of research in this area, and might even have some data to contribute at some point in the future!
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