Designing For Online Vs Print

Before I begin a comprehensive study of the differences between designing for online and
designing for print, let me first provide two layouts that i will be using as a comparative for
my analysis.

Example of an online web page.

Example of a printed sheet. Taken from TheStar Newspaper.

According to the Eyetracking Study that was conducted by Jakob Nielsen, he reports
that users will often read web pages according to the F shaped. Hence the design for the web page shown above is shown in a F pattern way. Therefore, new
additions are always placed on the right where else things that are 'given' for example
the tool bar is placed on the left.

On the other hand, he stats that readers of print articles tend to read an article in the
Z shaped pattern. Kress and van Leeuwen (1998) stats that print media tends to
focus more on the text (multimodality) rather than the use of images and vibrant colours.

In terms of the length of words, it is a given fact that the printed media contains words that are longer in length compared to online 
media where Jakob Nielsen says in his How Users Read On The Web Study that
people rarely read Web pages word by word; instead, they scan the page. It is then
safe to say that users prefer short and concise texts as they give a web page a glance
through.

Hypertext or hyperlink is a definite added plus for online media as users are able
to easily connect themselves with other web sites and blogs through the link(s) provided.

In his Writing For The Web article, Jakob Nielsen provides us with three main
guidelines for writing for the Web. 

• Be succinct. Write no more than 50 per cent of what you would write in a printed text.
  
• Write for scannability. Don't give the users a hard time browsing through the texts.
• Use hypertext/hyperlink to split up long information into multiple pages.

Looking back at the critical analysis I have done, it seems that online media seems to win it
hands down. With user friendly set ups and at such a low cost, it is foreseeable that the online media would 
soon overtake the traditional method of print media.

How soon, remains to be seen.

Reference List:

1.) Kress, G & van Leeuwen, T 1998, Front pages: (the critical) analysis of newspaper layout,      Approaches to media discourse, Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 186-219. 

2) Nielsen, J 2006, F-Shaped Pattern For Reading Web Content, Viewed on 2 May 2008
     http://www.useit.com/alertbox/reading_pattern.html

3) Nielsen, J 1997, Be Succinct! (Writing for the Web), Viewed on 2 May 2008
     http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9703b.html

4) Nielsen, J 1997, How Users Read On The Web, Viewed on 27 April 2008
     http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html