More Eye Tracking Tips for Web Usability

In a recent post we touched on another article’s review of 23 important lessons that eye tracking has taught us in regard to website design and usability. They were pretty valid points, and not all of them were mentioned in the original post, so we thought we’d pass on a few more tips…

• F shapes: Web users have been shown to look initially at the top left and upper portion of a page before moving down and to the right, forming sort of an F-shape. What this means for designers is to place important content along these lines. If you can keep readers engaged longer than another website, well, that’s success.
• Single Column before Multi Columns: Studies also show that one column formats on a page tend to perform better than many columns side by side. Multi column formats can be overwhelming to viewers, so better just to keep it simple and straightforward.
• Headings get attention: Anyone who has read a newspaper recently knows that headings are what get our attention. OBAMA WINS or US AT WAR attracts our eyes, and studies have shown that web viewers still approach sites as if they were newspapers, reading headlines before anything else on the page. This seems like a no brainer, but it is something often left unconsidered in design. An interesting headline gets our initial attention, but pay attention to what’s written as well, as an intriguing piece of text can get viewers to delve deeper into the site.
• Navigation goes up top: A lot of design decisions and placement could be approached with the old “chicken versus egg” argument, but the fact of the matter is, we as viewers are by now accustomed to having certain things in certain places. Navigation tools are one of these things, and they typically work more effectively when placed at the top of the page. By placing navigation tools towards the top of the page, you can help send viewers in the right direction, again allowing them to go further into a website with ease.
• We like lists: As previously mentioned, large blocks of text, multi-column format, and little negative space can make for an awfully overwhelming experience when visiting a webpage. Lists have been shown to hold our attention longer, and breaking up paragraphs into lists move eyes around the page, so a viewer sees more of the site in addition to finding information more effectively.

Again, it goes without saying that design shouldn’t be arbitrary. Eye tracking has shown us that each decision should be made for a reason, and when it comes down to it, it is really the secret of success for an effective website.

Scientific Web Design: 23 Actionable Lessons from Eye-Tracking Studies

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