Skimming or Skipping? How People Read Online

By d/D

Poynter Institute has posted the results of “Eyetrack III,” a study on how people look at news online. While the study is “wide, not deep,” it contains many interesting points that could contribute to the analysis of any content-based Web site. For example:

“Photographs, contrary to what you might expect (and contrary to findings of 1990 Poynter eyetracking research on print newspapers), aren’t typically the entry point to a homepage. Text rules on the PC screen — both in order viewed and in overall time spent looking at it.”

http://www.poynterextra.org/eyetrack2004/main.htm