Scrolling behaviour with single- and multi-column layout

ABSTRACT

The standard layout model used by web browsers is to lay text out in a vertical scroll using a single column. The horizontal-scroll layout model--in which text is laid out in columns whose height is set to that of the browser window and the viewer scrolls horizontally - seems well-suited to multi-column layout on electronic devices. We describe a study that examines how people read and, in particular, the strategies they use for scrolling with these two models when reading large textual documents on a standard computer monitor. We compare usability of the models and evaluate both user preferences and the effect of the model on performance. Also interesting is the description of the browser and its user interface which we used for the study.

REFERENCES

• 1: J. R. Baker. Is multiple-column online text better? it depends! Usability News, 7, 2005.
• 2: R. Bringhurst. The elements of typographic style. Hartley & Marks, 1996.
• 3: M. Dyson. How physical text layout affects reading from screen. Behaviour and Information Technology, 23(6):377--393, 2004.
• 4: Mary C. Dyson , Mark Haselgrove, The influence of reading speed and line length on the effectiveness of reading from screen, International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, v.54 n.4, p.585-612, April 2001 [doi>10.1006/ijhc.2001.0458]
• 5: M. Dyson and G. Kipping. The legibility of screen formats: Are three columns better than one? Computers & Graphics, 21(6):703--712, 1997.
• 6: M. Dyson and G. Kipping. The effects of line length and method of movement on patterns of reading from screen. Visible Language, 32(2):150--81, 1998.
• 7: Laura A. Granka , Thorsten Joachims , Geri Gay, Eye-tracking analysis of user behavior in WWW search, Proceedings of the 27th annual international ACM SIGIR conference on Research and development in information retrieval, July 25-29, 2004, Sheffield, United Kingdom [doi>10.1145/1008992.1009079]
• 8: Charles Jacobs , Wilmot Li , Evan Schrier , David Bargeron , David Salesin, Adaptive grid-based document layout, ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG), v.22 n.3, July 2003
• 9: Matt Jones , Gary Marsden , Norliza Mohd-Nasir , Kevin Boone , George Buchanan, Improving Web interaction on small displays, Proceedings of the eighth international conference on World Wide Web, p.1129-1137, May 1999, Toronto, Canada
• 10: J. Nielsen. F-shaped pattern for reading web content. Alertbox: Current Issues in Web Usability (retrieved 31 Oct 2008 from http://www.useit.com/alertbox/reading_pattern.html), April 17, 2006.
• 11: M. Schcolnik. A Study of Reading with Dedicated E-Readers. PhD thesis, Nova Southeastern University, 2001.
• 12: Evan Schrier , Mira Dontcheva , Charles Jacobs , Geraldine Wade , David Salesin, Adaptive layout for dynamically aggregated documents, Proceedings of the 13th international conference on Intelligent user interfaces, January 13-16, 2008, Gran Canaria, Spain [doi>10.1145/1378773.1378787]
• 13: M. Tinker. Legibility of print. Iowa State University Press, Ames, 1963.
• 14: Yeliz Yesilada , Caroline Jay , Robert Stevens , Simon Harper, Validating the use and role of visual elements of web pages in navigation with an eye-tracking study, Proceeding of the 17th international conference on World Wide Web, April 21-25, 2008, Beijing, China [doi>10.1145/1367497.1367500]
• 15: M. Youngman and L. Scharff. Text width and margin width influences. (Presented at the South Western Psychological Assoc.). Retrieved Aug. 10, 2007 from http://hubel.sfasu.edu/research/textmargin.html, 1998.
• 16: Shumin Zhai , Barton A. Smith , Ted Selker, Improving Browsing Performance: A study of four input devices for scrolling and pointing tasks, Proceedings of the IFIP TC13 Interantional Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, p.286-293, July 14-18, 1997

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.4 INFORMATION SYSTEMS APPLICATIONS
      H.4.3 Communications Applications
          Subjects: Information browsers

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)

  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.7 DOCUMENT AND TEXT PROCESSING
      I.7.2 Document Preparation
          Subjects: Photocomposition/typesetting

General Terms:
Experimentation, Human Factors

Keywords:
multi-column layout, reading, scrolling, web-browser