This week at Eye Tracking Update we’ve been discussing the lack of a concrete, rigorous framework by which eye tracking usability metrics can be interpreted. Typically, interpretations are done by usability experts or in some of the more D.I.Y studies, whomever is doing the testing. We’ve centered much of our discussion around an academic paper published by two researchers, Ehmke and Wilson, from City University, London. In it, they suggest that there needs to be a more standardized model … [Read more...]
Framework for Eye Tracking Patterns and Usability Problems: Pt 3
Ehmke and Wilson, the two researchers who published the report in association with City University in London, raise the point that there still remains a need “for studies that relate eye-tracking patterns to specific usability problems (by indicating cognitive processes).” In the past, eye tracking metrics have been compared to general interface usability, assessed by usability experts or calculated from performance completion times for certain tasks. But, as they say, expert reviews and performance … [Read more...]
Using Eye Tracking & Mouse Movements to Analyze Search Behavior
For those in the business, it must be a pretty nice thing to see usability studies come of age. We’ve touched on recent debates regarding the relationship between what a user is looking at versus what they’re thinking about (Is it the same thing or is it something entirely different?), and it’s exciting to see further research into the details of eye tracking and usability. Data is easy to come by if you have the right equipment, but making sense of that data, analyzing it for usable information … [Read more...]
Eye Tracking Research Exploring Assistive Possibilities
Many of our posts revolve around the ever expanding industry of usabilty testing with eye tracking technology. So it’s a pleasure to see more use of eye tracking for humanitarian purposes, such as aiding in communication or transportation for those with ability limitations.In a recent paper published at the University of Southern California – Los Angeles (USC), researchers are using eye tracking to aid with communication, facilitating disabled individuals in their everyday lives. They’ve … [Read more...]
Framework for Eye Tracking Patterns and Usability Problems: Part 1
When you are trying a new product, you want it to work, right? If a company makes a good product, people use it. If it’s a bad product, people will not – it’s quite simple. Of course there are several factors like strategy, marketing, money, connections, production, and even a little luck involved in making a successful product but in essence, what it really comes down to is whether the product is a good one or not.The onslaught of the World Wide Web in the last decade has certainly … [Read more...]
Eye Tracking: How Experience is Key in Becoming an Expert
By now you’ve probably noticed that much of what we write about here at Eye Tracking Update has to do with usability testing. The fact of the matter is, eye tracking is effective and popular when it comes to usability testing, and many studies published that utilize this technology have to do with web design, click rates, and layout. As interesting and relevant as usability testing is to the eye tracking industry, we enjoy seeing eye tracking technology used in other innovative ways. We’ve written … [Read more...]
Eye Tracking Studies Suggest Google is Making Us Stupid
After reading the article about Nicholas Carr that posted recently on Eye Tracking Update about how eye tracking studies have identified a change in reading behavior online, you might be interested in seeing some of the points raised. There’s a giant wiki page on Carr’s original essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” in which he questions the long-term physical and psychological effects the Internet has had/is having on our brains. The article isn’t pointing a finger specifically at Google; … [Read more...]
Eye Tracking Improves Camouflage Effectiveness
At Eye Tracking Update we talk a lot about what you can see. But what about what you can’t see?Dr. Timothy O’Neill is a camouflage consultant and a retired Army officer who founded the Engineering Psychology program at West Point years ago. He also created the basis of the camouflage pattern on the Army Combat Uniform, beginning his work prior to grad school. He was the one responsible for creating the “digital” camouflage design that we see now. It’s sort of a squared pattern that … [Read more...]
Eye Tracking Web Usability Study Reveals the “Golden Triangle”
We’ve written a few articles on website usability and how, in particular, people search the web, scanning their eyes across the screen to seek out the results relevant to their search. Many studies using eye tracking heatmaps have shown that web users tend to scan in an “F” pattern – that is, focusing mainly on the upper left side of the screen and scanning across horizontally and then down the left hand side to check what’s on the page. This makes sense. Think about when you do a search … [Read more...]