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E-Book Reader Usability Study: Reading Performance and Comprehension . By Hannah Lee and Thomas Young. Introduction. As digital and E-book reading continue to become more popular, a close look at how this relatively new medium compares to traditional print is important - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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E-Book Reader Usability Study:Reading Performance and
Comprehension By Hannah Lee and Thomas Young
Introduction• As digital and E-book reading continue to
become more popular, a close look at how this relatively new medium compares to traditional print is important
• There is no conclusive evidence suggesting that E-book reading may have advantages or disadvantages in comparison to Print Reading
Research Questions
• The experiment is therefore designed to explore the following questions comparing E-book and Print Reading:
• Does E-book reading impair the reader’s ability to have an in-depth understanding of a text?
• Does E-book reading impair reading speed?
Choice of E-book for Study
- The E-ink display bears the closest resemblance to the print format
- Less potential distractions compared to other E-Book readers
The Kindle Touch was chosen for the study because…
Description of Experiment
• 8 participants were divided into two groups (Group A and Group B)
• The groups were created to compare the way each specific text was read on the Kindle and on paper
Group A Group B
Non-Fiction Text (On Paper) vs. Non-Fiction Text (On Kindle)
Fiction Text (On Kindle) vs. Fiction Text (On Paper)
Description of Experiment
Fiction Text:Excerpt of the Novel The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Non-Fiction Text:Scientific Article “Dangerous Glass Fibers In Cigarettes Worsen Lung Damage For Smokers” by S.D. Wells
The Texts chosen for the usability study were…
Description of Experiment
• The participants of each group were timed during both readings to measure their reading speed
• Each reading was followed by a 12-question quiz, designed to measure reading comprehension
• After the experiment was completed, each participant was given a Post-Questionnaire asking if they skimmed or re-read during the experiment on either reading format
General Results• The most significant finding was that the
non-fiction text results of the group that read it on the Kindle performed significantly better on the quizzes than those who read the non-fiction text on Print
• Both the fiction and non-fiction texts were read faster on paper than on the Kindle.
• The group that read the fiction text on paper performed better on the quiz than the group that read it on the Kindle
Non-Fiction Reading Time
Reading times, from lowest to highest for non-fiction. (Red : On Kindle , Blue: On Paper)
Average TimesNon-Fiction Article
(Paper) 5 minutes and 17
seconds
Non-Fiction Article (Kindle)
5 minutes and 32 seconds
Fiction Reading TimeReading times, from lowest to highest for
fiction. (Red: On Kindle , Blue: On Paper)
Average TimesFiction Excerpt
(Kindle)5 minutes and 8 seconds
Fiction Excerpt (Paper) 4 minutes and 28 seconds
Discussion of Time Results
• Participants read the fiction excerpt about 13% faster on paper than on the Kindle
• Our fiction results were consistent with the results from a study by Jakob Nielsen in 2010, whose participants read 10.7% slower on the Kindle than on paper while reading short stories
• Participants read the non-fiction article 4.5% faster on paper than on the Kindle
although the marginal difference may render this statistic insignificant
Non-Fiction Test ScoresTest scores for Non-fiction texts on both formats
Average Scores
Non-fiction article on Paper: 58%
Non-fiction article on Kindle: 83%
(Red: On Kindle , Blue: On Paper)
Fiction Test Scores Test scores for fiction texts on both formats (Red: On Kindle , Blue: On Paper)
Average Scores
Fiction excerpt on Paper: 100%
Fiction excerpt on Kindle: 79%
Discussion of Test Results
• Those who read the non-fiction text on the Kindle performed better on the quiz than those who read non-fiction on paper.
• This could be because people are generally more accustomed to reading non-fiction on digital formats.
• However, they read at a relatively similar pace (only 4.5% slower)
Discussion of Test Results
• The group who read the fiction text on paper performed better on the quiz than those who read fiction on the Kindle.
• The same group also read the fiction text 13% faster on paper than the group that read it on the Kindle
• This may because people are more comfortable reading fiction on print because they are more accustomed to reading paper for leisure type reading
Post-Questionnaire Results
• The participants generally skimmed and reread more on the non-fiction text regardless of the format.
• This suggests that the type of text (i.e. fiction/non-fiction) could be influential in the act of skimming/re-reading than the format (i.e. print/digital).
Limitations
• One Kindle was used for the duration of the entire study.
• The sample of participants consisted of eight people
• The texts were relatively short.• Therefore, the results only apply to
short texts
Conclusions
• E-book readers could be better suited for non-fiction reading, while print reading could be better suited for fiction reading
• The results indicate that further research is required to examine these differences
• More participants, Longer Texts and Usage of Multiple E-book readers in future studies could provide more accurate data in relation to how E-book reading in general compares to Print reading