Reader-‐‑Content-‐‑Design: An Eye Tracking Research Sibel Onursoy, Ph.D. Anadolu University, Turkey
[email protected] Deniz Kılıç, Ph.D. Anadolu University, Turkey
[email protected] Sibel ONURSOY is an associate professor in journalism. She works at Anadolu University Communication Sciences Faculty. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in journalism, graphic design, visual communication, newspaper and magazine design. Deniz KILIÇ is an associate professor in journalism. He works at Anadolu University Communication Sciences Faculty. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in journalism, basic journalism, news editing, newsgathering and writing. Abstract Understanding the effective factors in people’s reading and using communication media will help the message reach the target audience faster and more efficiently. This research analyses the reader’s behaviour changing according to the material to be read. In this context, “reader-‐‑content-‐‑design” correlation sets the aim of the research. By using eye-‐‑tracking method, the research reveals that applications like breakers expand reading space and the size of news space in newspaper design plays a determining role. Keywords: Page design, eye-‐‑tracking, journalism. READER-‐‑CONTENT-‐‑DESIGN: AN EYE TRACKING RESEARCH INTRODUCTION With the increasing intensive information flow and time constraints, readers prefer visuals to long texts. The human brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than text (Walter & Gioglio, 2014). This means any type of information that you would like to communicate with is likely to be told better in visuals. Publications with visuals can communicate with readers faster, and this makes them more valuable. Visuals, which express ideas fast, are immediate. Therefore, the future of content marketing lies in visuals, which are easy to understand and appealing. Texts that are hard to comprehend will be replaced by visual information, which is concise and easy to understand. Besides, although a photograph is considered to be a document in journalism, it is also a tool that directly sends a message on its own. With technological advances, widespread use of the Internet, and appearance of mobile devices and social networks, media are going through a radical change. Methods of creating, accessing and sharing news and information have largely varied. As in all fields of communication, in journalism, too, a pressure of visual dominance period is felt, and it is observed that newspapers are paying attention to the design aspect as well as the news aspect in order to meet the changing needs and expectations of readers. Today, newspapers need to keep up with the expectations and behaviors of readers to be able to
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raise their market shares. They compete against one another in their quest for content and visual design. They focus on designing solutions and seek out fonts with strong typography. The aim in design should be enabling the readability of the publication. However, more often than not, as sensationalism comes to the forefront in design, readability is pushed aside. The sensational design will mean nothing if the news is not properly understood, though. The aim of this research is to find out behavioral changes of the reader induced by different contents and designs presented to him/her. How do design preference and news content affect reader preferences in Turkey? What sort of differences or relationships does reader behaviour unfold in terms of news content and visual presentation? This research analyses the reader’s behaviour changing according to the material to be read. In this context, “reader-‐‑content-‐‑design” correlation sets the aim of the research. What and how an individual reads, and what type of information content he/she remembers sets the problem of this research. To make the reader read more, more appealing and easy-‐‑to-‐‑read designs and news contents have become more significant. Knowing the level of “appeal” in the message is an important factor in understanding the meaning correctly. What we should look at in mass communication tools is what the target audience reads, watches and how much he/she remembers. As a result, it is essential to identify discernibility of visual elements by following eye movements during reading/watching activities in order to find out the active factors in people’s reading and using interactive and printed media. LITERATURE REVIEW Eye tracking had been used in usability studies prior to researches conducted on computers. Pioneers of eye tracking studies Fitts, Jones and Milton (1950) began using motion picture cameras to study the movements of pilots’ eyes as they used cockpit controls and instruments to land an airplane (Benel, Ottens & Horst, 1991, p. 465). Eye tracking data plays an important role in developing designs. For example, synchronising the visual and haptic logs, aggregating this voluminous data and analysing it, visualising eye tracking data in conjunction with other interaction data holds considerable promise as a powerful tool for usability engineering (Crowe & Narayanan, 2000, p. 35). It is also a new tool for evaluating visually administered questionnaires (Redline & Lankford, 2001). Continual movements in eye-‐‑tracking systems have increased the usefulness of this technique (Merwin, 2002, p.39). Also, this method is used in driver simulators, electronic maps, web page designing, flight simulators, etc. This sort of technology was pioneered for the study of reading (Rayner, 1998; Kennedy, Radach, Heller & Pynte, 200) and has more recently been applied to more complex visual displays (e.g., McConkie, 1991; McConkie & Curie, 1996; Karn & Hayhoe, 2000) and to virtual environments (Triesch, Sullivan, Hayhoe & Ballard, 2002). Hyrskykari, Majaranta, Aaltonen and Räihä (2000) report a practical example of such an application of gaze dependent displays in human– computer interaction (Jacob & Karn, 2003). Currently, eye-‐‑tracking technology is used in scientific fields such as health, psychology and advertising as a tool for analysis. It forms the basis for usability studies particularly in web, motion picture, television programs and video games. Allowing multiuse makes eye tracking a valid instrument in developing human behaviour. This instrument is much needed for more effective and efficient campaigns and researches, and to draw attention of the consumer to the product. Visual data are essential to make the incomprehensible abstract data comprehensible in terms of information, presentation and clarity. Visualizing information is making abstract information cluster visible and it is usually formed by metaphors that do not exist in the physical world (Fry, 20014, p. 39). Regarding websites/portals, eye tracking studies are of value
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in order to understand the areas on which users focus the most, providing a greater understanding of what content should be placed on a website, as well as how it should be laid out. The ‘Stanford-‐‑Poynter’ project (Lewenstein, Edwards, Tatar, & DeVigal, 2000) is possibly the first eye tracking study applied to websites and broke ground for the many eye tracking web studies that followed. Results from the ‘Stanford-‐‑Poynter project showed that users first read text content, followed by photographs and graphics. For example, the placement of the search bar on the top of the left side of the page is suggested for better visualization (Goldberg et al. 2002). Individuals born after 1980 prefer pages with a large main image, little text, a search feature and pictures of celebrities (Djamasbi et al., 2005). Bucher and Schumacher (2006) conducted an eye tracking study analyzing attention sequences towards online and printed media stimuli. They argued that a media stimulus is the starting point reception. In the study, attention sequences were analyzed by eye tracking patterns from three different perspectives. First, attention patterns were compared under varying task conditions. Second, different types of media were tested. Third, attention sequences towards different forms of news with different design patterns were compared. Eye-‐‑tracking data were used as indicators of attention. Starting with a hypothesis on the impact of different media such as printed newspapers and online newspapers on the agenda-‐‑setting process of their audience, the study examined how the type of media and the form of news influences attention and selectivity. Their findings showed that visual cues such as salient photos or graphics and information hierarchies signaled by design and layout guide attention processes. The results indicated that the form of news affects these patterns of interactive attention more than the medium itself (Bucher, H.J. Schumacher, P., 2006). Holsanova, Holmqvist and Rahm (2006) conducted an empirical study, using eye tracking to find out entry points and reading paths. Researchers attempted to answer three questions. Firstly, the time sequence in which different areas attract attention is calculated in order to determine reading priorities; secondly, the amount of time spent on different areas is calculated in order to determine which areas have been read most; lastly, the depth of attention is calculated in order to determine how carefully those areas have been read. The results of the study are as follows: Readers prefer both new information and information they find suitable to their expectations. They prefer general information at the top and details at the bottom. They look for the most important information in the center of semiotic space and less important information in the periphery. Headlines, sub-‐‑headlines, picture captions, billboards, tickers, vignettes, thematic markers, and section markers are paratexts as entry points. In addition, readers follow elements connected to each other by framing devices such as lines and arrows. Lastly, readers scan the semiotic space before taking a closer look at certain units (Holsanova,,J., Rahm, H. and Holmqvist, K., 2006). METHODOLOGY The research attempts to identify where the user looks at, how long he/she looks, and where the attention focuses through eye tracking method. In this method, a pair of camera glasses is given to each volunteer and the participants are shown one of the pre-‐‑prepared prototypes and given time to read. The first one minute of the recorded data is analyzed. Following the eye tracking, participants are also asked to answer a questionnaire. The questionnaire enquires whether they remember the news reports they have just read. Participants are all volunteers. Spatial statistics techniques are used to statistically analyze the data. Apart from the eye tracking method, a questionnaire inquiring the news content and demographical information about a total of 205 research subjects is used. The research analyses two different designs of a traffic accident report and investigates how well the messages in the designs are recognized and remembered.
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Prototype pages encompass clear differences in terms of content, visuals and design: In the first prototype a large photograph, a small-‐‑scale map and a quote box accompany the news report. The text flows plainly. There is, though, a big and striking advert on the left page. That means there is a powerful visual image to compete with the large photo on the right. There are 8 news reports and an advert in this prototype. The reports cover topics of sports, lifestyle, education, local weather forecast, and police/courthouse. The specially designed pages are sized according to eye tracking camera angles. Table 1. First prototype.
In the second prototype a big map, a small photo of the accident, a mug-‐‑shot and two quote boxes accompany the report. This design also includes 8 news reports; however, it contains more detailed information and expert opinion. The unity of the first prototype is disintegrated here through sub-‐‑headlines and quote boxes. Even an additional quote box is added to draw attention to the numbers. In both prototypes the accident news report is located on the right page and a headline with a big white space is placed over the visual. Quark Xpress 8 and Adobe Photoshop graphic programs are used for designing the prototype pages. Table 2. Second prototype.
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Target population of the study and sample Eye tracking studies are still seen as experimental studies. The current system of this project is comprised of specially designed glasses with ASL optic cameras, and Eye-‐‑Vision software program that transforms the recorded eye movements into data. The data are combined in a Microsoft Excel file with the help of a software program. This enables us to reprocess the data from the files and conduct a statistical data analysis. The average reading span of the participants is around 10-‐‑12 minutes, including the calibration. After transferring the data into a computer and calibrating on the computer, a total of 30 minutes is spent for each participant. The system records participants’ eye movements in saccades and duration (four recording points in a second). To avoid data loss, averages are calculated for each second. Spatial statistics techniques are used to analyze the data statistically. A total of 205 people from eight cities participated in the research to read two prototypes. After the reading activity, a questionnaire is given to participants to see how well they remember. The questionnaire also contains demographical information of the participants. All the participants of this eye tracking study are dwellers -‐‑born and raised-‐‑ of the city or town where the study has been conducted. Due to the reading challenges that high school graduates and below face while reading, eye tracking studies have been carried out at Anadolu University Open Education Faculty Offices in the cities. Thus, a large number of volunteers are distant education students (88,3%). Participants are aged between 15 and 52. Out of 205 participants, 49,8%(102) are women, 50,02% (103) are men. FINDINGS Eye tracking studies and the questionnaire of the research are carried out in Konya, Mardin, Bartın, Isparta, Edirne, Manisa and Hatay. The largest turnout (21,5%) took place in Konya, followed by Mardin (16,1%), Ispata (15,1%), Hatay (15,1%), Edirne (14,6%), Manisa (11,2%) and Bartın (6,3%). Table 3. Provinces to go for research Provinces Province
Frequency
Valid Percent
Edirne
30
14.6
Konya
44
21.5
Mardin
33
16.1
Bartın
13
6.3
Isparta
31
15.1
Manisa
23
11.2
Hatay
31
15.1
Total
205
100.0
Two specially designed newspaper prototypes are given to the participants. 103 of them read the 1st prototype, 102 of them read the 2nd.
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st
Table 4. Eye tracking density for the 1 prototype (all provinces)
nd
Table 5. Eye tracking density for the 2 prototype (all provinces)
More intensive eye movements on the right page are observed for both prototypes. The accident report located in a large space with the biggest visual on the right page attracted attention of most and lead to readability. The size of the space where the report is placed is a determinant in design. The findings indicate visual elements attract most eye movements. Whereas eye movements focus on a few spots in the first prototype, they are more expansive in the second one. Therefore, the design that brings out more detailed information in the second prototype (emphasizing the little information clusters) expands the reading or looking space.
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Comparison news remembered the first row and provinces Table 6. News remembered the first row according to all provinces (for the 1st prototype) News remembered the first row (fort the 1st prototype) Euro 2020 Protestocu öğrencilere polis müdahalesi İstanbul Altın Borsası Bu yıl kış/yaz nasıl geçecek / yerel haber Trafik canavarı durdurulamıyor (with big photo) Özel Eğitim verilecek dahi çocuklar Bluejean: Bir ölü mü? Efsane mi? Advertising Not remembered Total
Total for all provinces Frequency Total 12 11,7% 14 13.6% 3 2,9% 15 14,6% 32 31,1% 3 2,9% 12 11,7% 3 2,9% 4 3,9% 103 100%
Table 7. News remembered the first row according to all provinces (for the 2nd prototype) News remembered the first row (fort the 2nd prototype) Euro 2020 Protestocu öğrencilere polis müdahalesi Sözleşmeli engelli öğretmene müjde! İstanbul Altın borsası’nda rekor Yerel haber
Total for all provinces Frequency Total 21 20,6% 15 14,7% 3 2,9% 2 2,0% 11 10,8%
Trafik can almaya devam ediyor (with big map)
32
31,4%
Özel Eğitim verilecek dahi çocuklar Bluejean: Bir ölü mü? Efsane mi? Not remembered Total
4 12 2 102
3,9% 11,8% 2,0% 100%
The newspaper design prototype covered an advert and the following stories: Euro 2020 (sports), Traffic monster unstoppable (police/courthouse), Police respond to protesting students (police/courthouse/violence), Local news, Blue jeans: Dead? Or legend? (Lifestyle), Good News for Disabled Contract Teacher Genius Kids to Receive Special Education (Education), Istanbul Gold Exchange news (Finance). When asked which stories they remembered, the first ones they recalled are as follows: Full sheet report titled “Traffic monster unstoppable” came first in the first and second prototypes, remembered by around 30% of the participants. The content of this most remembered traffic accident report covered reasons, results and various aspects of traffic accidents happening in Turkey in the last 10 years. The second prototype brings out guidance on how to avoid traffic accidents and gives numbers related to traffic accidents. The results show that this content difference has an effect on remembering the news report. Comparison news photograph or visual remembered the first row and provinces Table 8. Visual remembered the first row according to all provinces (for the 1st prototype) Visual remembered the first row (fort the 1st prototype) Blue Jean: Bir ölü mü? Efsane mi? Protestocu öğrencilere polis müdahalesi Trafik canavarı durdurulamıyor (with big photo) Advertising photo Not remembered
Total for all provinces Count Total 16 15,5% 18 17,5% 30 29,1% 16 15,5% 20 22,4%
Total
103
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100%
Table 9. Visual remembered the first row according to all provinces (for the 2nd prototype) Visual remembered the first row (for the 2nd prototype) Blue Jean: Bir ölü mü? Efsane mi? Protestocu öğrencilere polis müdahalesi Trafik can almaya devam ediyor (with big map) Yerel haber Not remembered
Total for all provinces Count Total 22 21,6% 25 24,5% 25 24,5% 11 10,8% 17 18,6%
Total
102
100%
One of the most important factors making readers remember the news report is a visual element. According to the collected survey data, the visual for the news report which covers the largest space in the first prototype is remembered the most. One of the basic features of this photo is that it is the largest visual element of the first design. It is also one of the real images shot right after the accident. A dead body on the ground and a group of police and army officers looking at the body are seen in the photo. The visual element of the accident shares the first place of what is remembered most with a violence photo in the second design prototype. The visual element of the traffic accident story is a map indicating the density of traffic accidents and it is the biggest visual element of the second design prototype. It is an information graphics. It is not as effective as the accident photo of the first prototype. A photo of “student guarding himself against police truncheon” placed on the left page with roughly the same size is remembered as much (24,5%). Showing a student hit by police truncheon, the photo is a violent, real and simultaneous image. Therefore, the content, reality and size of the image play an effective role in its being remembered. CONCLUSION Researches on the effects of mass media tools are being carried out on a universal scale as the effective use of these tools are becoming more and more important. Following and understanding the messages sent by mass communication tools have a direct correlation with the demand for these tools. Since finding out modern people’s reading behaviour will provide important clues for preparing appropriate contents, it is essential to identify what appeals to readers. Thus, what type of information/data is taken into consideration concerning what the reader sees, pays attention to, and really looks at has proven to be more valuable for communication experts. Research findings suggest that there are some factors that attract or expand the reader’s attention. Common points among participants, news contents and their sizes on the sheet; features, contents and size of visual elements; and page design set the basics of these factors. Big photos, simultaneous real photos, dead bodies, sentimental photos with facial expressions maintain their importance in capturing attention and being remembered. In short, size and content of a visual are determinants of gathering attention and being remembered. Use of breakers –also known as “breakout quotes”, “quote breakers”, “quote boxes”, “quote-‐‑ outs”, “readout”, “pullouts”, “blurbs”, or “sandwiches”-‐‑ that is having extracts from long texts, placing these extracts in quotation marks or boxes, increasing the font size, etc. raise readability, or in other words, expand reading space. A white space around the headline emphasizes it, and raises its readability. In addition to the various considerations for making text type optimally readable, there are a few accessory methods of story identification and reader direction that are done with
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typography. Bylines, credit lines, cutlines, continued or jump lines, and tabular display of information are all ways by which stories can be expanded or given more clarity. A poor tabular listing of information may cause the reader to lose interest not only in the graphic element, but in the article as well. All photos, headlines, sub-‐‑headlines, picture captions, billboards, tickers, vignettes, thematic markers, and section markers are paratexts as entry points. Thus, research results by Holsanova, Rahm and Holmqvist (2006) are supported. Results show that the size of the news report on the page and its being accompanied by a photo are effective in remembering both the report and the photo. Besides, it proves that proximity factor with a newsworthy story influences reading and remembering the news report. In fact, news stories in a small space without a photo but related to the cities where the study is published are one of the most remembered reports. REFERENCES BUCHER, H-‐‑J. & SCHUMACHER, P. (2006). The Relevance of Attention for Selecting News Content. An eye-‐‑tracking study on attention patterns in the reception of print and online media. In: Communications, 31. Jg., 3, pp. 347-‐‑368. FAHMY, S. & BOCK, M. A. & WANTA, (2014) W. Visual Communication Theory and Research, New York: Palgrave MacMillan. FRY, B. J. (2004). Computational Information Design. Doctor of Philosophy, Massachussets Institute ofs Technology. Retrieved from http://benfry.com/phd/dissertation-‐‑050312b-‐‑acrobat.pdf (access date March, 10th, 2015) HALSANOVA, J. & RAHM, H. & HOLMQVIST, K. (2006). “Entry Points and Reading Paths on Newspaper Spreads: Comparing a Semiotic Analysis With Eye Tracking Measurements”, Visual Communications, 5(1); London, Thousand Oaks, CA and New Delhi: Sage Publications. JACOB, R. J. K. & KARN, K. S. (2003). Eye tracking in Human-‐‑Computer Interaction and usability research: Ready to deliver the promises, In J. Hyönä, R. Radach, & H. Deubel (Eds.), the mind'ʹs eye: Cognitive and applied aspects of eye movement research, pp. 573-‐‑605. Amsterdam: Elsevier. KENNEDY, A. & RADACH, R. & HELLER, D. & PYNTE, J. (Eds, 2000). Reading as a Perceptual Process. Oxford: Elsevier. LEWENSTEIN, M. & EDWARDS, G. & TATAR, D. & DEVIGAL, A. (2000). Stanford Poynter Project, from http://www.poynterextra.org/et/i.htm (access date March, 10th, 2015). MEALHA, O. & VELOSO, A. & ALMEIDA, S.& RODRIGUES R. & ROQUE, L. & MARQUES, R. & MANTEIGUEIRO, C. (2012). Eye Tracking Data Representation and Visualization: on Information and Communication studies at CETAC.MEDIA Journal of Eye tracking, Visual Cognition and Emotion Volume 2, Number 1 JETVCE; ISSN 1647-‐‑7677. PAN, B. & HEMBROOKE, H. A. & GAY, G. K. & GRANKA, L. A. & FEUSNER, M. K. & NEWMAN, J. K. (2004). The determinants of web page viewing behaviour: an eye-‐‑tracking study. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 2004 Symposium on Eye Tracking Research & Applications, San Antonio, Texas. RAYNER, K. (1998). Eye movements in reading and information processing: 20 years of research. Psychological Bulletin, 124, pp. 372–422.
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