Experimental comparison of the user experiences of different digital and printed newspaper versions

Abstract

A laboratory experiment comparing the user experiences elicited by five different newspaper publication versions (four digital versions and the printed tabloid format newspaper) was carried out. The study had the parallel goals of testing and developing user experience measures for evaluating news reading experiences evoked by different publication designs and to learn of the different styles of news reading and reader preferences regarding the design and layout of the content. The results show considerable differences between the user experiences evoked by all five publications versions, and provide information on the usefulness of different measures in measuring relevant aspects of news reading experiences. The participants could be roughly divided into two main clusters based on their preferences of different publication versions. The most significant difference between the two groups seems to be the attitude towards reading news articles in the form of continuous streams as often found on different web sites. One group preferred the printed newspaper and digital versions that can be understood to stem from the tradition of the printed newspaper. The other group preferred the web style of news presentation and saw no need for digital versions mimicking the printed paper.