I’ve been thinking about writing a post that focuses on written content and how users consume it for a while. I wanted to wait until I’m working through some challenges with a client who is rewriting or creating new content to help make the post more useful. Alas, that day is here. I’m currently working with a membership organization and an ecommerce client on reworking/creating written content.  

In a previous post I talked about the Skyscraper Technique of blogging that helps content creators generate relevant content efficiently. That post focused a lot on how to start blogging/creating content and what you could or should add to that content. While that post gives content creators the basics, it’s important to understand how users consume content as well, which is where this post comes in.

There are all sorts of studies out there that talk about how users consume written content. Here’s a good one from USF Health Information Systems, that discusses different online reading patterns. The thing to note about the patterns mentioned in the study are that digital properties should potentially use all of them based on the audience. In my experience, there are three main types of audiences that hit a digital property:

1. The Glimpser
2. The Scanner
3. The Reader

It’s possible for users to progress from audience group to the next once they build a digital relationship with an organization. Ultimately, this is the goal right?

Judging the book by its cover

The first audience group is the Glimpser. This user usually, has little to no relationship with the digital property they are exploring. Usually this user is looking for quick information. They are quick to judge your digital content without fully exploring it. Often this judgement is based on design. Studies show that typically users make up their mind about an organization or digital property within seconds of visiting a new piece of digital content, especially when they don’t already have a relationship with the content creator.

You guessed it, the Glimpser often make their decisions on basic elements: colors, headers, images, etc. These users are typically the wide net of users that make the top of the loyal fan/user funnel. The study above mentions the Z-Pattern. That’s the pattern that this user will typically follow.

Judging the book by its sleeve

This is the next audience type is the Scanner. This user typically has some knowledge of the topic or the content creator. They are not looking for surface level information, but at the same time want the information they’re looking for quickly. In addition to the elements that the Glimpser focuses on, they’re going to focus on CTAs, bold text, lists, etc.

The Glimpser can become the Scanner. In other cases, the user starts out as a scanner. These users are part of the middle of the loyal fan/user funnel. When it comes to their online reading patterns, these users typically fall more into the F-Pattern. The content they are visiting is usually a little deeper within a digital property and provides a bit more detail.

Judging the book after reading it

Finally, there are the Readers. They’re the real fans. The loyal users. The audience group that has a relationship with the content creator, that trusts the content creator. They read most of (if not all) content.

This user usually starts out as a Scanner or a Glimpser and grows into the Reader. They fall more into the Layered Cake Pattern. They’re the small end of the loyal fan/user funnel and the most valuable users.

I’m not saying that all audiences are not important, in today’s world where there are literally thousands of pieces of content fighting for a user’s attention they are all important. When thinking about creating content and designing digital experiences it’s important to think about the user type and what their digital consumption looks like.