Two Columns Are Better Than One?

The conclusion of the study:

Results from this study provide additional insight into the differences in the fixation patterns for a single and double-column web page layout. When searching the article, users fixated on the right column of the 2-column article significantly more than the bottom half of the 1-column article.

This shows a potential solution to the "below the fold" problem where users do not scroll to read text below the visible screen. Web page designers should be encouraged to use the 2-column layout to maximize fixations on lengthy text. Future studies should be done to investigate the eye movement patterns viewing single-column articles of varying column width as well as articles with subsection headers.

 Read the full article by clicking at the link on the right.

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