Sure, we can hack our minds to switch to a different pace and style of reading, but these are our “go-to” modes for reading words on screens: Yet when we read online, most of us toggle instinctively between skimming and scanning. We’re reading longer blocks of text on our phones than ever before. Human brains are getting better at parsing information in digital contexts. As technology has improved and content on the internet has expanded, so have our ability and willingness to consume words on screens. Studies show that people used to have a harder time reading on screens. Product designers, writers, and content strategists can design better digital reading experiences if we understand more about what happens when people read in these contexts. When reading on a tablet, laptop, or phone, you’re having a different experience than digging into a dog-eared paperback borrowed from a friend.ĭigital contexts inspire a specialized kind of reading with its own kind of magic. The context is completely different, and so is how we think and feel about the content. Context and ContentĬan you imagine reading a string of a social media posts or the on-boarding flow for a new app printed on paper and bound in a book? Words saturate the apps on our phones, tablets, and computers. The thing is, much of what we read these days is on screens, not paper.