Tablet computers have been widely adopted in America today, with 34% of American adults ages 18+ owning this type of digital device (PEW, 2013). With the emergence of new portable computer technology, reading on digital devices has become more popular than ever before. In particular, tablet computers have enabled users to read enhanced e-book material that, while still text-driven, incorporates all facets of multimedia and technology. With many different digital publishing solutions available for publishers to deploy their content, the goal of this research study was to determine whether there are significant differences in user preferences and comprehension for a publication re-created with three different digital publishing solutions (i.e., Adobe DPS, iBooks Author, and EPUB).
The methodology of this research study was a human factors experiment testing for a significant difference in the reading experience of subjects exposed to one of three digital publications. A field experiment consisting of ninety subjects assessed these publications, thirty for each of the three output formats.
No significant difference among the publications was found for readers\u27 pleasure with the overall experience or for their interaction with the multimedia elements. A marginally significant difference among the publications was found for the value added by the multimedia elements of the publication. A significant difference among the publications was found for the readers\u27 ability to recognize information and comprehend material from the publication.
Ultimately, these results showed a trend that readers\u27 of the digital publishing platforms that allowed for greater interactivity experienced more value added by the multimedia elements of the publication and increased ability to recognize information from the publication. However, the pleasure with the overall experience of the publication and the readers\u27 interaction with the multimedia elements in the publication was determined to not have a significant difference between the publications.
Therefore, while readers did not tend to interact differently with the multimedia content or experience any greater pleasure based on the publication they read, readers of more interactive publications did tend to see more value added by the multimedia elements and were better able to recognize the information they had experienced
