Do we perceive images in text reading direction?

Question

I received a graphic in a presentation with equally weighted items in it. Their order did not match my expectation, so I started to wonder why that would be. Finally I figured out that I was reading them in text reading direction and that order did not match the order in which the text explained them. Therefore my question is:

In case a graphic has no special points of interest, do we tend to read images in text reading order, i.e. from top to bottom and left to right? What is the reason for it?

As a consequence

• I would make the proposal to change the order of elements to match the sequence they were explained in the text
• I might need to update some images in another project where they are used in context of a right to left language.

From my personal try with the following picture, I agree to this theory. I stared at the middle first, not finding anything useful, then starting from top left to bottom right. Side question: is this test ok or did I make a mistake designing the test?

Answer 1

I think the test is incorrect. These are not images but letters. It's normal for our minds to try and read the letters although they are separated in boxes. If they are actual pictures, I think we wouldn't "read" them in any particular order but instantly see the one that is most interesting to us. Size would also play part here. If the images are big enough to look at their detail, we would scan them in a more chaotic order than if they were small and lacking detail. I think the correct way to study this topic is to display a matrix of images for a brief time (1-2 seconds) and ask the participants to remember what they saw. If they remember the top left picture you can prove your point. My bet is they would remember images that are near the center. I also think that they would scan LtR if they are asked to remember as much as possible. They would try to make an array of images by remembering them LtR.

Answer 2

If the images are merely placed for no reason in the order they appear, then "yeah, of course" they should be rearranged by text order. Even if the arrangement is less pleasing aesthetically.

If there is a rational order to the images (time sequence, color arrangement etc,etc), then that order should take precedence and to hell with the text.

There is a huge difference between "expectation" and "imperative," and perception and understanding are not so rigid as to demand conformity to habit.

Answer 3

The answer on your question is picture/age/sex/task/etc-dependant: human first seeking signs of danger and on the other places all other.

The question was investigated using eye tracking equipment and the answer is probably "No" even when we exposed to text.

Look at the examples:

Site design related eye tracking -

Sex related eye tracking -

other example -

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As you can see there is no line-related pattern of gaze. The gaze "takes" the picture more by slices, then by lines even when we read text and books.

wiki example -

Answer 4

In general I would say no, you do not perceive images in text reading order.

Images, unlike text, are heavily weighted by many factors - color, depth, motion, etc. These factors can pull the eye towards any image placed anywhere on the page. Your test is using all similar images, no image is weighted more than another (ignoring actually reading the characters within) - therefore it's not really a valid test.

It has also been proven that the bottom left corner of a layout is the least visible location for information. With text, you are lead right to that particular corner to continue reading. With images, that corner can be a "dead zone" and regardless of what image is placed there may result in a lack of attention from the viewer merely due to its location.

The bottom right corner is considered a "terminal" area where the reader is expecting things to end, or items requiring attention to continue are placed. To this end, images in the bottom right corner are going to naturally gain more focus that other images. If those images also happen to be prominent due to color, motion, etc. they can heavily weight that corner, again regardless of any natural text flow direction.

A bright, red, image in the bottom, left, middle, corner when all the other images are blue will naturally yank your eye right to that red image. It has nothing to do with text direction.

Answer 5

Equally-weighted Items in a Grid

Based on your test image, I'm assuming it's a graphic in which the items were laid out in a grid format. With grid formats, the example that immediately comes to mind is that of comics/graphic novels, which are designed with the assumption that people will follow the action in a text reading direction.

Equally-weighted Items NOT in a Grid

Assuming that equally-weighted just means that the items are all roughly the same size and visually equally impactful, it's possible to have the items laid out in a way that directs your attention to the next item you should be looking at. For example, the items could be laid out in a regular circle to encourage a clockwise perusal method.

Side Answer

The test uses letters, which might bias people towards using text reading from the beginning. As well, some of the letters are lowercase, which makes them smaller. Perhaps you could use geometric shapes instead?

Other Stuff

From a graphic design perspective, Things Organised Neatly is a good place to look at graphics with many items to explore what layouts might work with your items.