Re: Reading Patterns (wz:Blank pages)

[Stephen Victor <svictor -at- HOUSTON -dot- GEOQUEST -dot- SLB -dot- COM>]

Elna Tymes wrote:
>
> > Rather, I believe our eyes are drawn first to the upper left of a page, or to
> > the left-most page in a 2-page spread.  The reason is that in Western
> > culture, writing is read from top to bottom, left to right.
>
> You can believe whatever you want.  You can believe that the moon is
> made of green cheese.  However, if you persist in a belief that is
> contradicted by hard research, people will begin to wonder about you.

I agree that the "upper-right first" reading pattern is supported by
research, but I think it's important to stress (as someone else
mentioned) that this could very well be a cultural phenomenon. I wonder
if similar research has been done with users of languages that do not
read left to right? I know we have at least one member from Israel. Does
this person know of any research there that might differ from the
research we're discussing?

Given the current interest in "localization," this could be a useful
question to answer.

Regards,
Steve

--
Stephen P. Victor                               Phone: (713) 513-2552
Technical Writer, Software Training             Fax:   (713) 513-2019
Schlumberger GeoQuest                svictor -at- houston -dot- geoquest -dot- slb -dot- com
5599 San Felipe, Suite 1700
Houston, Texas 77056 USA

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