Submissions:2016/Reader study results: what reader qualities impacts reading behavior?

Title

Reader study results: Characterizing Wikipedia_Reader Behaviour

tech

n

presentation

Author

Jon Katz

E-mail address

jkatz@wikimedia.org

Username

Jkatz (WMF)

Affiliation

WMF

Abstract

Presenting the first results from the following research project, outlined here: [1]

Little is known about the purpose of each Wikipedia reader's visit to the website. We currently provide the same interface to all Wikipedia readers, independent of the purpose of their visit and their needs. From our personal experience, we know that we go to Wikipedia for different reasons and the reasons for our visits change, sometimes depending on the time of the day, the location we are in, etc. Sometimes we come to Wikipedia to find the translation of a concept or phrase to a language, sometimes we come to learn about a topic such as different forms of government, other times we are on Wikipedia to learn something curious and unexpected, to look up a topic that is in the news or to play Wikirace, or more. In many cases, readers visit Wikipedia due to some extrinsic motivation, like a class assignment.

The goal of this research is to build a taxonomy of Wikipedia readers to help us understand their motivation to visit Wikipedia. The output of this research can be used by the community at large and the Reading team at the Wikimedia Foundation to make content available in ways that are more suitable for the needs of those who seek to access it and to design appropriate user experiences.

The early results show some basic motivations for visiting wikipedia and how that correlates across times, platforms and topics.

Length of presentation

20 minutes

Special schedule requests

NA

Preferred room size

10?

Will you attend WikiConference North America if your submission is not accepted?

yes

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