Experts prefer text but videos help novices: an analysis of the utility of multi-media content

Multi-media increases engagement and is increasingly prevalent in online content including news, web blogs, and social media, however, it may not always be beneficial to users. To determine what types of media users actually wanted, we conducted an exploratory study where users got to choose their own media augmentation. Our findings showed that users desired different amounts and types of media depending on their familiarity with the content. To further investigate this difference, we created two versions of a media augmented document, one designed for novices and one designed for experts. We evaluated these prototypes in a two-way between-subject study with 48 participants and found that while multi-media enhanced novice readers' perception of usability (p = .0100) and helped them with reading time (p = .0427), time on task (p= .0156), comprehension (p = .0161), experts largely ignored multi-media and primarily utilized text.