Designing for online vs print

So, what is so different between designing online and print? Well, according to Reep (2006) asserts that 79 to 81 percent of users scan web material and the purpose of the users to visit the website is to get information. It would be an advantage for the websites with background music and also interactive java script. Furthermore, Parker(2003) also agreed with Reep’s idea that it is harder to read on screen as compared to print. This is because of the lighting problem on the screen. Therefore, the online publications must be in bullet points so that the readers can read easily.

Nielsen (2005) also affirms that the text in the web should be concise and scannable as users will read 25 percent slower than on the paper. He also further his research on Weblog Usability:The Top 10 Design Mistake where it gives a real guide for the newbie to start writing a good website or web log.

Below shows the example of Online and Print Document

Online Document

Print Document

Print material is static when once it's printed out the author cannot change the informations. Whereas for Online, the author still can change the content of the information after posting up to the web. Furthermore, Nielsen (2006) also further his researches that viewers read the web content in a F-shaped pattern. which is read the heading and scan through all the informations.On the other hand, Gutenberg Diagram shows that the pattern of reading a print document is unlike Z-shape. Therefore, the different of print and online documents has it's own unique different.

Reference Lists:

Nielsen , J 2005, Weblog Usability: The Top Ten Design Mistakes , Jakob Nielsen Alertbox, viewed 5 May 2008, <http://www.useit.com/alertbox/weblogs.html>

Nielsen, J 2006, F-shaped pattern for reading web content, Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox, viewed 3 May2008,

<http://www.useit.com/alertbox/reading_pattern.html>.

Parker, RC 2003, ' CHapter 14" in Looking Good in Print, 5th Edition, Scootsdale, Arizons.

Reep, D 2006, ' Chapter 3 & 7' in Technical Writing, 6th Edition, Pearson Education, Inc