Beyond reading media and interaction behavior : cognitive implications of digitized reading patterns

Abstract

This paper examines the reading and navigation behaviour when interacting with paper and digital tablet media. An experiment of reading a newspaper in spreadsheet format was conducted. The interaction with the newspaper in the paper and digital setups was video-recorded. Qualitative, visual inspection of the interaction behaviour enabled identification of reading and navigation patterns specific to the reading media. The patterns were quantified as duration to assess the amount of time dedicated for reading in contrast to navigation. The findings show that, in paper reading condition, reading time is higher when compared to tablet condition. On the other hand, the navigation time was generally higher in the tablet than in the paper condition, with possible consequences on the cognitive load. The paper discusses the findings in light of the limited capacity of mediated message processing model and derives implications to the design of digital reading interfaces.