Effects of Splitting Text into Multiple Columns

Conclusions

The results of our experiment are quite interesting.  The analysis of the data shows that for wider screens readers prefer the text to be split into multiple columns.  However, the comprehension rate, which in our experiment is measured by the time to correct completion and the number of incorrect responses, does not significantly vary for multi- vs. single- column display.

Impact for practitioners

The results of the experiment suggest that designers should consider splitting the large amounts of texts into multiple columns as the window width increases.  For example, reader satisfaction with an on-line library would be higher, if the text is split into multiple column as the user resizes browser window.  Splitting the text into multiple columns is not always necessary, since for low-resolution screens or narrow windows single-column display will be sufficient.  Even though the results of the experiment do not show significant increase in the comprehension rates, the analysis of subjective satisfaction shows that users desire dynamic reformatting of the text depending on the width of the window.

Suggestions for future researchers

One of the potential problems with this experiment is the fact that it considers only a relatively narrow range of possible window widths and number of columns.  A better result can be obtained by conducting the experiment with a greater range of window size (400 - 1200 for example) and also considering splitting text into two columns in addition to one and three.  A different way for measuring reader comprehension could possibly be used.  One of the potential methods, which has been used by previous researchers, is to ask user to find a particular word in text or determine if a particular question could be answered after reading the text.

An interesting task, which could also be addressed by a future researcher, is determining the optimal length of a line of text in a column.  This could also possible be a range of lengths or a threshold value, upon reaching which the line of text should be split into multiple columns.

Refine the theory or develop a new one

Based on the results of the experiment, the theory has been refined to focus on the subjective satisfaction.  The new theory states that as the width of the screen increases, splitting of the screen into multiple columns increases the subjective satisfaction with the text format.

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