The folks at the Poynter Institute are out with their Eyetrack III study results. For the study, the Institute “observed 46 people for one hour as their eyes followed mock news websites and real multimedia content.” Some of the key findings:

* People look at the upper left-hand corner of the page first (which contradicts results of a UIE study that showed people first looked at the middle of the screen)
* Smaller type leads to more focused reading (as opposed to scanning)
* The first few words in a headline grab the most attention
* People read summary descriptions (sub-heads leading into articles)

The study is rich in fascinating conclusions for anybody developing Web content. Keep in mind that the study focused exclusively on news sites, but much of what the Institute learned is applicable to any content-heavy site.