USC/Annenberg Study Confirms Value of Layout to Memory and Reading Speed of Articles

"Eyetracking points the way to effective news article design" is a story in the Online Journalism Review of the Annenberg Center for Communications at USC. Featured finding #1: Rewrite + reformat = remember Writing (or rewriting) a story to meet an ideal format (may require reformatting) improved the reader's reading speed and retention of the information. Featured finding #2: Precise and relevant editing = successful design Featured finding #3: Photos edited for relevance = photos viewed An interesting aspect of this last finding is that male viewers focused on the private anatomy in an image of an animal. In other words, men stare at the crotch. The article has a graphical presentation with fine examples that makes all these points clear. ----- URL: http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/070312ruel/