Week 2 – Packaging and story types

Week 2 – Story types

Story types – Online examples

• Mainbar: Afghan Civilian Deaths (Time) 1,066 words

• Column: Fred LeBrun (Times Union)

• Column: Joe Klein (Time)

• Personality profiles: ‘Survivor’ castoff wouldn’t change a thing (msnbc)

• Comparison chart: Super Bowl matchup (SI.com)

• Comparison chart: Video comparison (YouTube)

• Photo galleries: Times Union

• Photo galleries: Camera Works (Washington Post)

• Timeline: Winter weather (CNN)

• Timeline: 9/11 (Times Union)

• Quiz: Olympics quiz (Time)

• Q&A: Colts’ Freeney talks Super Bowl, rules for tackling QBs

• Major production: Fourth World Our World (Times Union) won national ONA award

• List with paragraph explainers: 10 tips: How to save cash when buying clothes (msnbc)

• Long lists: Top 10 summer ski resorts (OnTheSnow.com)

• Expert analysis: Cronkite: Time for U.S. to get out of Iraq (msnbc)

• Instruction: The Forehand of Rafael Nadal (Tennis magazine)

Week 2: Chunking

Strategies – Online examples

• Analysis by many people using font changes: 2008 NFL predictions (Fox Sports)

• Breaking story into multiple pages: Great Performances (Time)

• Q&A with bold text: Interview with Laura Bush and Cindy McCain (Newsweek)

• Using subheads: Google’s St. Valentine’s Day massacre? (cnn.com)

• Charts, links, bold text: Mother and child reunion (cnn.com)

• Pictures, charts, subheads, related stories: Last best places (Star Tribune)

• List of categorized links: Health and Wellness (Reader’s Digest)

• List with bold text: 20 Ways to Lose Weight After the Holidays (Reader’s Digest)

• Intro with detailed list: Top Ten Nutrition and Fitness Tips (Reader’s Digest)

• Analysis of chunking: Interview with Web optimization expert Andy King (March 10, 2003)

How short is too short? How “chunked” is too chunked?

Ah, the paging versus scrolling issue. This is a complex topic with lots of variables at play. There are a number of studies out there, and some rule-of-thumb guidelines. (Usability expert Jakob) Nielsen has softened his “users don’t like to scroll” stance, as we’ve become used to some scrolling.

For longer texts (4 to 6 screens), some studies have shown that users read faster paging from screen to screen and more importantly find information faster paging, rather than scrolling one long document. However, a SURL study found that paging through short pages took significantly longer to read than a “full” or “scrolling” condition.

A screen-full of text seemed to perform best (the author estimates that the optimum page length is about 700 words). I’ve seen recommendations up to 2 to 3 screens for the length you want to make individual pages in a longer document.