3 ms·

Since our startup is focused on enhancing readability, we take these concerns and comments to heart, but we have realized that much of readability is more subje

Since our startup is focused on enhancing readability, we take these concerns and comments to heart, but we have realized that much of readability is more subjective and less guided by universal, hard-and-fast rules. A big challenge with typography, and design more generally, is that sometimes what is objectively superior in some measurable sense (retention, reading speed, etc.) can contradict what a test subject prefers subjectively. I agree with your caution about providing too many options at the expense of simplicity, but when you’re asking a question that doesn’t have a single universally correct answer, I don’t see that you have any better strategy available. Interesting idea for the reading aid, BTW.

gnicholas 13y ago
Absolutely agree that users' subjective perceptions about readability don't always line up with actual results. We have a reading test on our website (controlled and randomized, n = 15,000), and the vast majority of test subjects find that it improves reading ease. Interestingly, among the minority of subjects (15%) who perceive that our tech did not improve readability, most of them actually read faster in the test condition than in the control. At the end of the day, both subjective and objective results matter. People don't willingly use a product that they don't like, and most people aren't interested in a product that is only playing games with their mind. So we have to build products and features that help people, and then provide education so that people feel can make fully informed decisions.