Lightweight Interaction: Methods for Improving Digital Reading

Reading is a complex human activity evolved, and co-evolved, with technology over thousands of years. Today, electronic documents are enabling paperless reading, supported by eReading technologies such as Kindles and Nooks. However, a high proportion of people still prefer to print onto paper for reading. This persistent habit is one sign that interactions with digital documents require improvement. Reading is now in a period of rapid change, and digital text is fast becoming the predominant form of reading. Now is the right time to address the shortcomings of how we interact with electronic documents. The physical properties of paper contribute to the ease with which printed documents are manipulated. Paper can be folded or scribbled on almost subconsciously. In contrast, the same activities on electronic documents require the reader s attention to focus on their control of the technology, not on the document s content. This is because of fundamental characteristics of the interaction design of the digital document. We demonstrate that low-attention, almost subliminal interaction is achieved in some facets of working with paper. However, print is not a panacea, and digital documents can, and should, be improved to the point where working with them is more, not less, effective. Hundreds of years of incremental evolution have resulted in major improvements for reading on paper. Principled approaches to the design of electronic reading devices and document reader software can make dramatic improvements to the ease of reading in a much shorter time. This book shows you how to do just that.