Best Font for Online Reading: No Single Answer
Metadata
- Author: Jakob Nielsen
- Full Title: Best Font for Online Reading: No Single Answer
- URL: https://nngroup.com/articles/best-font-for-online-reading
Highlights
Among high-legibility fonts, a study found 35% difference in reading speeds between the best and the worst (View Highlight)
People read 11% slower for every 20 years they age. (View Highlight)
previous research on user-interface customization has found that most users don’t use preference settings, but simply make do with the default. (View Highlight) Most users don’t use preference settings, but simply use the default
users don’t know what’s best for them, so they can’t choose the best font, even if they were given the option to customize their fonts. In this study, participants read 14% faster in their fastest font (314 WPM, on average) compared to their most preferred font (275 WPM, on average) (View Highlight)
Unfortunately, no single font is best for all users. (View Highlight)
Reading speed declines substantially with age, even among middle-aged users. We’ve always recommended to cut the words for digital content, but now we should recommend cutting 11% more words if large parts of your audience are 50 years or older. (View Highlight)
Reading speed declines substantially with age
Best Font for Online Reading: No Single Answer
Metadata
- Author: Jakob Nielsen
- Full Title: Best Font for Online Reading: No Single Answer
- URL: https://nngroup.com/articles/best-font-for-online-reading
Highlights
Among high-legibility fonts, a study found 35% difference in reading speeds between the best and the worst (View Highlight)review
People read 11% slower for every 20 years they age. (View Highlight)review
previous research on user-interface customization has found that most users don’t use preference settings, but simply make do with the default. (View Highlight)review
users don’t know what’s best for them, so they can’t choose the best font, even if they were given the option to customize their fonts. In this study, participants read 14% faster in their fastest font (314 WPM, on average) compared to their most preferred font (275 WPM, on average) (View Highlight)review
Unfortunately, no single font is best for all users. (View Highlight)review
Reading speed declines substantially with age, even among middle-aged users. We’ve always recommended to cut the words for digital content, but now we should recommend cutting 11% more words if large parts of your audience are 50 years or older. (View Highlight)review