Beyond Reading Media and Interaction Behavior: Self-reported User Satisfaction and Cognitive Implications of Digitized Reading Patterns

This paper examines the reading and navigation (browsing) behavior and the user satisfaction when interacting with a traditional and digital newspaper during an experiment. The qualitative, visual inspection of the interaction behavior allowed to identify the 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 results show that, in the paper reading condition, the reading time was higher when compared to the tablet condition. In contrast, the navigation time was generally higher in the tablet than in the paper condition, with possible consequences on cognitive load. Users’ satisfaction with the traditional newspaper was higher than in the case of digital reading. The findings are discussed considering the limited capacity of mediated message processing model. Implications for designing digital reading interfaces are formulated.