Print Design vs Online Design

Web pages are all about navigation. Nielsen (1999) called web pages a “scrolling experience” for readers and print media a “canvas experience”. The only navigation used in print media is simply page-turning. Web pages contain hyperlinks and menu bars to help users search for information quickly.

Walsh (2006) noted that websites are divided into various sections with headlines and sub-headlines. She also mentioned that readers select a certain reading pathway based on their interests or goals. Nielsen (2006) noted that readers of web pages follow an F-shaped pattern, reading information on the left column first, and then scanning through the body. He revealed that only 19 per cent of users read web content word for word.

Online readers look for “actionable content”, unlike print documents written with a “storytelling approach” (Nielsen, 2008). This is why websites seldom have complete sentences. KLE Designs (2008) states that each web page is “merely a landing in a staircase from where a person can take another flight in any random direction”.

Compared with print documents, web pages also contain more visuals because a proper balance of prose and graphics help readers interpret documents better (Schriver, 1997). Therefore, it is important for document designers to understand the dynamics of both print and online media to achieve optimum document design.

Source: [Re]Encoded.com

In the picture above, the left side displays The Guardian newspaper and the right side shows a collection of websites. As you can see, print documents mainly contains words with little pictures. In web pages, lots of colourful graphics are used in order to present the information efficiently. This makes it much easier for readers to read web content. 

References:

KLE Designs 2008, 'Differences between Print design and Web design', viewed 11 November 2008, <http://www.kle-designs.com/articles/web_design/Differences+between+print+design+and+web+design.htm>

Nielsen, J 1999, ‘Differences between Print design and Web design’, Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox, viewed 11 November 2008, <http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990124.html>.

Nielsen, J 2006, ‘F-Shaped Pattern For Reading Web Content’, Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox, viewed 11 November 2008, <http://www.useit.com/alertbox/reading_pattern.html>.

Nielsen, J 2008, ‘Writing style for Print vs. Web’, Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox, viewed 11 November 2008, <http://www.useit.com/alertbox/print-vs-online-content.html>.

Schriver, KA 1997, Dynamics in document design: Creating texts for readers, ‘Chapter 6: The interplay of words and pictures’, Willy Computer Publishing, New York.