Again, the F pattern. It’s a frequently recurring topic worth noting, as it really seems to be the strongest and most consistent trend we see coming out of the various web usability studies throughout the industry.When designing a site, a paper, or a page, it’s important to know how a person reads, where they look, and what they can expect to find. If you want to catch a visitor’s eye, there are certain rules to follow which remain consistent.Through eye tracking and the resulting heatmaps … [Read more...]
Framework for Eye Tracking Patterns and Usability Problems: Pt 4
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...]
Eye Tracking: Try These Free Web Usability Tools
It’s no question that when it comes to free products, you get what you pay for. It’s pretty standard these days for companies to offer free versions of software, light versions to get us started on a product so that we’ll return and upgrade to the full version. It’s like getting a free sample in a mall – you never know when you might try your favorite thing, something that will keep you coming back.Some companies offer free limited or skeleton versions that can be upgraded to the full … [Read more...]
Mastering Eye Tracking Web Usability Metrics
No doubt that by now you’ve read much of the debate about eye tracking for usability studies, whether it’s effective, whether it’s affordable, whether or not it actually works. Some say that eye fixations don’t necessarily translate to attention or even understanding of a website’s layout. Then of course, there are supporters of eye tracking, some saying it’s entirely useful and others that argue for it’s use as a more supplementary tool, to be used in collaboration with other, more … [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...]
Eye Tracking on the Cheap: Making MacGyver Proud
One of the more fun aspects of writing for Eye Tracking Update is when a new, do-it-yourself eye tracking device shows up online. With so many formal reports (these are also great, of course!) involving medical diagnostics and web usability studies, it’s refreshing and enjoyable to see when tinkerers start innovating on their own, on the cheap, and for no other reason than to have fun doing it.A post that falls under all of these categories was brought to our attention, and it features a video … [Read more...]
Eye Tracking Technology as Memory Aid
In a recent post we noted a meeting that took place in the French Alps ski resort of Megeve. The inaugural Augmented Human International Conference took place over two days, with a gang of engineers and scientists meeting to discuss and share research and innovations on a flurry of new technology.Unfortunately, Eye Tracking Update wasn’t able to make it over to see the conference, but we’ve been finding plenty of articles on the goings on, and it sounds like an interesting success. And as … [Read more...]