People read differently from a screen (compared to print)

Despite the vast number of mobile devices in use, and a wide range of options for the way you read electronic content, there are still differences between the way people read from a screen and the way they read from a printed page. And it will probably always be so.

Perhaps you remember getting frustrated with reading something from a screen, and guiltily printing it out to read. Perhaps there are certain things you prefer to read from a screen, and other types of writing you prefer to read on paper. Perhaps you love your Kindle; perhaps you love the touch and smell of books.

Some of this is down to the way humans work, and some of it is down to what we've been used to (which means age can come into it) — and some of it's just about personal preferences.

The important things to remember are:

• Don't assume everyone reads things the way you do
• Don't assume people read screens the way they read print
• Don't apply a single style to everything you write, regardless of media
• Don't transfer writing for print straight to electronic media, or vice versa.

Why people read differently from a screen

• On a screen, the natural inclination is to start top-left; in a magazine or book, the eye is more naturally drawn to top-right.
  
  
• People read much more hurriedly from a screen. This has implications for how deep their concentration is, how much they process, and what they will remember.
  
  
• This tendency to scan-read means you need to make it easier for them to decide whether to read something and then to assimilate what they read. This has major implications for formatting and writing style.
  
  
• In print, a reader can choose to keep reading, flick through the pages, or stop reading. Online, they can do the same (for 'flick', read 'browse' your site) — BUT they can also click straight to a competitor's site. So you have to work harder to keep your content relevant and engaging.
  
  
• In print, people tend to read in a linear way: one page after the other, one chapter after the other, just as the writer planned. With digital media, the user decides where they go next — and what they read. So you need to think carefully about structure and navigation.
  
  
• Ever gone looking for something you'd seen earlier in a magazine ("it was in the first half, on the left, above a picture of Paris...")? With electronic media, it's not as easy to find things again (very few people bookmark every interesting page they see, or realise they're going to need to come back later). Again, this makes good structure and navigation critically important.