Design of on-screen reading experiences based on a characterisation of techonological mediation

Abstract

This study was carried out in a context in which there is a low presence of digital reading devices, starting from the premise that the use of electronic reading devices implies an instrumental relationship with a technical object that can be characterized as a mediation relationship. The thematic analysis of documented narratives, reading tests and interviews with an intentional sample of readers and editors, were used in the framework of this research, the objective was to explore the pertinence of characterizing the mediation relationships that readers of literature texts on screen establish with electronic devices through their experience. The findings indicate the need to lend support to the reader; this characterization is an important requirement for designing reading experiences. As a result, the mediation relations that readers establish with electronic devices are, in principle, in the first contact, of alterity. The readers observe the device as an otherness, an object with a certain autonomy, capable of arousing admiration.