How Do People Read?
Reading is a primary form of communication for most people. But how do we read? And what should designers know?
Are Capital Letters Really That Hard To Read?
You’ve likely heard that words in uppercase letters are more difficult to read than those in mixed case or lowercase. You may have even heard a percentage stating it’s “between 14 and 20 percent harder.” The concept is that we recognise words and groups of words by their shapes. Words in mixed case or lowercase have unique shapes, whereas words in all capital letters have the same shape — a rectangle of a certain size. Therefore, they are theoretically harder to distinguish
This idea seems believable, but it’s not entirely true. Research doesn’t show that word shapes help us read better, or faster.
James Cattell, a psycholinguist, suggested this in 1886. But newer studies by Kenneth Paap (1984) and Keith Rayner (1998) found that when we read, we recognise and expect letters. Then, we recognise the word based on those letters.
Unveiling the complexity of reading
When we read, our eyes don’t move smoothly across the page. Instead, they make quick jumps, called saccades, and brief pauses, called fixations.
During saccades, we can’t see anything, but they’re so fast that we don’t notice (we’re essentially blind). Our eyes usually move forward during saccades, but they also look back 10 to 15 percent of the time, re-reading letters and words.
The dynamics of reading
A saccade covers about seven to nine letters, but we can actually see double that with our peripheral vision. In 1996, Kenneth Goodman discovered that we read ahead about 15 letters at a time, mainly focusing on the characters to the right (assuming we’re reading left to right).
Sometimes a saccade takes us backward, causing us to reread a group of letters. Although we read ahead, we only get the meaning for part of that span. We pick up semantic cues of letters 1 through 7, but we only recognize letters 8 through 15.
People who read music fluently use the same jumps, pauses, and reading ahead of 15 “letters” as they do when reading text.
So, are capitals harder to read then?
We do read uppercase letters more slowly, because we’re not as used to seeing them. Since most of what we read is in mixed case, we’re more familiar with it. If you practice reading text in all capital letters, eventually you’ll read it as fast as mixed case. But that doesn’t mean you should use all caps for everything. People aren’t used to it, so it slows them down. Plus, nowadays, all caps is seen as “shouting.”
Uppercase letters might seem like they’re shouting, but they’re not actually more difficult to read.
Summary
- People see all caps as shouting, and they’re not used to reading them, so use them sparingly
- Use all caps for headlines or when you need to grab attention, like before deleting an important file
Reading vs. Comprehension: Understanding The Difference
Just because you’ve read something doesn’t mean you’ve understood it. You absorb new information better when you connect it to things you know.
For example:
The dynamics of quantum entanglement in complex many-body systems undergoing non-equilibrium processes exhibit emergent phenomena that challenge traditional understandings of quantum mechanics and offer insights into the nature of entanglement entropy and its role in information processing.
Although we’ve read the sentence above, most people won’t understand its meaning.
There’s a way to calculate the readability of your text. The Flesch-Kincaid formula is commonly used to measure how easy text is to read. It provides both a reading ease score and a reading grade level score. The higher the scores, the easier the text is to read. Lower scores mean the text is harder to read.
Can you read this paragraph?
The huamn mnid is an amzanig thnig. It can raed wrdos eevn wehn the lteetrs are all jmbeuld up. Tehre is a caapcity taht allwos us to mkae snese out of cuomlpetly mssied up txet. It’s amlsot carzy.
You likely read the above paragraph effortlessly. That’s because the sequence of letters within a word isn’t critical. However, the first and last letters must be correct. The rest can be scrambled.
This is because reading is about predicting the next word. When you read, you don’t focus solely on individual letters and words. Rather, you anticipate what’s coming next. The more you know beforehand, the easier it is to predict and understand.
Titles and headlines play a critical role
Locate the power button on the side or top of the device and press it until the screen lights up. Once the screen turns on, release the button and wait for the phone to boot up. If there’s a lock screen, unlock it.
What is the paragraph about? It’s hard to understand. But what if I give you the same paragraph with a title:
How to turn on your mobile
Locate the power button on the side or top of the device and press it until the screen lights up. Once the screen turns on, release the button and wait for the phone to boot up. If there’s a lock screen, unlock it.
Sound better?
People utilise various brain regions to process words
Words are processed in distinct parts of the brain depending on the activity. Whether you’re reading, listening, or speaking, each word-related task involves different areas of the brain.
What you remember, depends on your perspective
In a study by Anderson and Pichert (1978), participants read a story about a house and its contents. One group read from a buyer’s perspective, while another read from a burglar’s perspective. The details they remembered differed based on their perspective.
Summary
- Readers are active participants. Their comprehension and retention of what they read are influenced by their prior experiences, their perspective while reading, and the instructions they receive
- It’s important not to assume that readers will remember specific details; providing a meaningful title or headline is crucial
- Tailoring the reading level to your audience is essential
- Use simple words and shorter sentences to ensure your material is accessible to a broader audience
How Pattern Recognition Helps Identify Letters in Various Fonts
For centuries, people have debated which fonts are easier to read: serif or sans serif. Some say sans serif fonts are better because they’re plain, while others argue serif fonts are better because the little lines (serifs) help guide the eye. However, research shows there’s actually no difference in understanding, reading speed, or preference between serif and sans serif fonts.
You haven’t memorised all the different versions of the letter B. Instead, you’ve formed a memory pattern of what it looks like. When you encounter something similar, your brain recognises the pattern.
Designers use fonts to create a feeling, brand, or connection. Some fonts make you think of a specific time (like old-fashioned or modern), while others seem serious or fun. But when it comes to reading easily, the font isn’t super important as long as it’s not too fancy and hard to read. Some fonts mess with your brain’s ability to recognize patterns.
While some decorative fonts are legible, others may be more challenging to read. If the font used for instructions is difficult to read, as in the example above, readers will also perceive the instructions as difficult to follow.
Summary
- Serif and sans serif fonts are equally readable
- Unusual or overly decorative fonts can disrupt pattern recognition and slow down reading
- If people struggle to read a font, they’ll think the text’s subject is difficult to understand.
Font Size Matters
Font size is crucial for readability. It needs to be big enough for everyone to read comfortably, not just older folks, but younger people too. Some fonts might look bigger even if they’re the same size. This happens because of something called x-height, which is the height of the small letter x in a font. Different fonts have different x-heights, so some look bigger than others even if they’re the same size.
Newer font families, such as Tahoma and Verdana, have been designed with large x-heights so they are easier to read on a screen. The image below displays different font styles that are all the same size. Some may seem bigger because they have a larger x-height.
Summary
- Pick a font size that’s comfortable for people of all ages to read
- Opt for a font with a larger x-height for online text to make it appear larger and easier to read.
Reading A Computer Screen Is Harder Than Reading Paper
Reading on screens, like computers, tablets, and mobile phones, is different from reading on paper. On a screen, the image changes and emits light, which can strain your eyes. Paper, on the other hand, reflects light and keeps the image still, making it easier on the eyes.
E-ink, found in devices like Kindles, resembles ink on paper, reflecting light and keeping the text still without constant changes.
For easier reading on a computer screen, use a sufficiently large font and ensure there’s enough contrast between the text and the background.
Summary
- Make text bigger when reading on a computer screen to reduce eye strain
- Break text into smaller parts
- Use bullets, short paragraphs, and pictures
- Ensure there’s clear contrast between text and background. Black text on white background is best
- Make sure your content is interesting for your audience. It all comes down to whether they want to read it or not.
People Read Faster with Longer Lines, but Prefer Shorter Ones
Have you ever had to choose a column width for a screen? Should it be wide with 100 characters per line? Or short with 50 characters per line? Or something in between? It depends on whether you want people to read faster or to enjoy the page more.
Mary Dyson (2004) researched line length, examining other studies to understand people’s preferences. Her findings suggest that 100 characters per line is optimal for reading speed on screens, but we tend to prefer shorter or medium line lengths (45 to 72 characters per line).
Longer line lengths are easier to read because they interfere less with the flow of saccades and fixations.
As mentioned earlier in this article, every time you reach the end of a line, you interrupt your eye movements due to saccades and fixations. Shorter lines cause more interruptions as you read through the entire piece.
If you ask people what they prefer, they’ll say multiple columns with short line lengths. Interestingly, even when asked which option they read faster, they’ll still insist it’s the multiple columns with short line lengths, even though the data proves otherwise.
Summary
Line length presents a dilemma: Should you give people the short line length and multiple columns they prefer, or go against their preference and intuition, knowing they’ll read faster with a longer line length and a single column?
- Use a longer line length (100 characters per line) if reading speed is a concern
- Use a shorter line length (45 to 72 characters per line) if reading speed is less critical
- For a multi-page article, consider using multiple columns with a short line length (45 characters per line)
