By Sara Quinn
Visual Journalism Faculty
It has been 15 years since Mario Garcia and Pegie Stark Adam first conducted eyetracking tests of newspaper readers. The 1991 study examined where readers looked on the printed page and how long their eyes lingered there. The information has guided newspapers in the use of color, contrast, dominant image and hierarchy on the page.
Poynter is in the planning stages of a study to build on those results and to give the industry better insight into print reading patterns. There will also be a component of the new study devoted to online research to supplement two previous online studies done by Poynter.
The study was announced to members at the Society for News Design Workshop in Houston Friday morning.
The new project for print comes at a time when the industry is attempting to attract younger readers, dealing with changes to the 50-inch web and considering the possibilities of going to a tabloid or other format.
Poynter feels the need to address some of these variables in a scientific way to guide industry decisions that might be made based on assumption.
We want to know more about what readers absorb and which formats work best to help them retain information. By testing comprehension and emotional response, Poynter will provide reliable information that can be used to guide important editing and design decisions.
Help us determine what to study in this next phase of Poynter’s Eyetrack research for the printed page. Please be as specific as possible in your suggestions. The door is wide open at this point, so feel free to dream and think big.
Research partners will be announced by the end of 2005, and the project will begin in early 2006. The findings will be made public in 2007.
Please fill out the attached survey and fax it, attention Sara Quinn, to (727) 456-2366.
