Eye tracking in user experience design

Eye Tracking for User Experience Design explores the many applications of eye tracking to better understand how users view and interact with technology. Ten leading experts in eye tracking discuss how they have taken advantage of this new technology to understand, design, and evaluate user experience. Real-world stories are included from these experts who have used eye tracking during the design and development of products ranging from information websites to immersive games. They also explore recent advances in the technology which tracks how users interact with mobile devices, large-screen displays and video game consoles. Methods for combining eye tracking with other research techniques for a more holistic understanding of the user experience are discussed. This is an invaluable resource to those who want to learn how eye tracking can be used to better understand and design for their users.

Author Notes

Andrew J. Schall Vice President of User Experience SPARK Experience, Inc.
Jennifer Romano Bergstrom User Experience Research Leader Fors Marsh Group

Acknowledgments	p. xiii
About the Editors	p. xv
List of Contributors	p. xvii
Foreword	p. xix
Section 1 Overview of Eye Tracking and Visual Search
Chapter 1 Introduction to Eye Tracking	p. 3
What Is Eye Tracking?	p. 3
How Eye Tracking Works	p. 3
What Eye Trackers Can and Cannot Tell Us	p. 6
Location	p. 6
Duration	p. 7
Movement	p. 8
Eye Tracking Past and Present	p. 9
Medieval Torture Devices and Early Eye Trackers	p. 9
Maturity of Eye Tracking into a User Experience Research Tool	p. 11
Hardware Designed for Quick and Easy Data Capture	p. 13
Participant Friendly	p. 14
Analysis Software Designed for User Experience Researchers	p. 14
Eye Tracking Can Empower Your Design Team	p. 18
Gaining Insights from Eye Gaze	p. 20
See Where People Looked, Not Where They Think They Looked	p. 20
Determinig the Effectiveness of a Visual Hierarchy	p. 20
Conclusion	p. 25
Acknowledgments	p. 25
References	p. 25
Chapter 2 Visual Search	p. 27
Introduction	p. 27
How Do We Visually Search for Information on Web Pages?	p. 28
What Does Visual Search Look Like?	p. 30
Are There Different Types of Visual Search?	p. 34
Visual Search Behavior of SERPs	p. 35
Can Images of Faces Impact Our Search Behavior More Than Other Types of Images?	p. 37
What is Banner Blindness, and Why is it Important?	p. 38
The Road Ahead for Designing Visual Search Experiences	p. 42
References	p. 43
Section 2 Evaluating the User Experience
Chapter 3 Usability Testing	p. 49
Introduction	p. 49
Incorporating Eye Tracking in Usability Testing	p. 51
Eye-Tracking Data Provides a Comprehensive Picture of Users' Experience and Can Help Inform the Design	p. 55
Fixations and Saccades	p. 56
Areas of Interest (AOIs)	p. 57
Gaze Opacity and Heat Maps	p. 61
Gaze Plots	p. 64
Communicating Usability Results More Effectively with Clients	p. 67
Eye Tracking Can Convince Clients to Make Design Changes to Improve Usability	p. 68
Eye-Tracking Visuals Can Aid in the Effort for User-Centered Design	p. 70
Considerations and Drawbacks with Eye Tracking in Usability Studies	p. 72
Time	p. 72
Analysis Software	p. 73
Think Aloud, Age, and Eye Tracking	p. 75
Conclusion	p. 77
Acknowledgments	p. 78
References	p. 78
Chapter 4 Physiological Response Measurementss	p. 81
Introduction	p. 81
Dimensions of Physiological Response Measures	p. 83
Subjective versus Objective	p. 83
Real Time versus Delayed	p. 85
Natural Context versus Artificial Lab	p. 87
Invasive versus Non-Ivasive	p. 88
Practicality of Incorporating Biometrics	p. 89
Physiological Response Measurement in UX	p. 89
Pupil Dilation	p. 89
Facial Emotion Recognition	p. 93
Skin Conductance	p. 95
Neuroimaging: EEG	p. 98
Measuring Valence	p. 105
Conclusion	p. 105
Acknowledgments	p. 106
References	p. 106
Section 3 Eye Tracking for Specific Applications
Chapter 5 Forms and Surveys	p. 111
Introduction	p. 111
Forms and Surveys Have a Lot in Common	p. 112
Some Examples of What We Can Learn from Eye Tracking Forms and Surveys	p. 114
People Read Pages with Question on Them Differently from Other Pages	p. 114
People Look for Buttons Near the Response Boxes	p. 118
People Fill in Forms More Quickly if the Labels Are Neer the Fields	p. 120
Users Get Confused about Whether They Are Supposed to Write Over Existing Text	p. 122
Double-Banked Lists of Response Options Appear Shorter	p. 126
When Eye Tracking of Forms and Surveys Works (and When it Does Not)	p. 127
Gaze and Attention Are Different	p. 129
Slot-In Answers: Gaze and Attention Together Toward Questions	p. 131
Gathered Answers: Gaze and Attention Split	p. 131
Created Answers: Gaze Toward Questions, Attention Elsewhere	p. 132
Elsewhere	p. 132
Third-Party Answers: Gaze and Attention Elsewhere	p. 133
Conclusion	p. 136
Acknowledgments	p. 137
References	p. 137
Chapter 6 Information Architecture and Web Navigation	p. 139
Introduction	p. 139
Methods to Evaluate IA	p. 139
Eye Tracking to Evaluate Navigation in Context	p. 141
Primary Navigation	p. 142
Why Users Should Not Spend Much Time Looking at Navigation	p. 143
Subnavigation	p. 145
Breadcrumb Navigation	p. 148
Contextual Navigation	p. 149
Utility Navigation	p. 151
Dynamic Menus	p. 155
Visual Hierarchy and Grouping	p. 157
Evaluating the Visual Hierarchy of Navigational Elements	p. 158
Measuring Navigation Usability	p. 159
Conclusion	p. 162
References	p. 162
Chapter 7 Web Content	p. 163
Hunting and Gathering: Information Foraging and Information Scent	p. 163
How Many Words Do Users See?	p. 164
What Words Do Users Look At?	p. 165
See If Your Content Is Causing Confusion	p. 166
How DO Users Read Online?	p. 166
Reading versus Scanning	p. 167
Standard Scanning Patterns	p. 168
Vertical Attention	p. 169
Horizontal Attention	p. 170
The Chicken and The Egg	p. 170
Mobile Content	p. 170
Writing for the Way We Read	p. 171
The Lead	p. 171
The Body	p. 172
The Ending	p. 172
Designing Effective Web Content	p. 172
Visual Hierarchy	p. 173
White Space	p. 173
Front Loading	p. 174
Headings and Subheadings	p. 175
Paragraph Text	p. 175
Justifying Text	p. 176
Lists	p. 177
Numerals	p. 178
Image Captions	p. 178
Fonts and Typography	p. 179
Colors, Contrast, and Emphasis	p. 181
Conclusion	p. 183
References	p. 183
Chapter 8 E-commerce Websites	p. 187
Introduction	p. 187
Types of E-commerce Sites	p. 189
Measuring Interactions	p. 195
Commerce	p. 196
User Experience	p. 197
Conceptual Models for Designing, Analyzing, and Interpreting Eye Tracking	p. 198
User Types and Models	p. 203
Design of Eye-Tracking Studies for E-commerce	p. 204
Considerations Prior to Data Collection	p. 205
Approaches to Data Analysis of E-commerce Websites	p. 207
Visualizing the Results of an E-commerce Study	p. 209
So How Does This Help Me Sell Socks?	p. 212
Conclusion	p. 215
References	p. 216
Chapter 9 Social Media	p. 217
Introduction	p. 217
Why User Experience Testing of Social Media Is Important for Brands	p. 218
Model of Visual Attention	p. 218
Facebook	p. 221
Research Findings	p. 224
Making Elements Work for Their Place on the Page	p. 231
Content Hot Spots: Maximize Content Exposure Using Attractors, Directors, and Informers	p. 232
Cover Crafting: Getting the Most Out of Cover Photos	p. 237
Out with the Old In with the Timeline?	p. 237
Summary for Facebook	p. 240
Google +	p. 241
Summary for Google+	p. 243
You Tube	p. 243
Summary for You Tube	p. 245
Linkedin	p. 245
Summary for Linkedin	p. 247
The Future for Social Media	p. 248
Ten Things Every Community Manager Should Know	p. 249
1 Make Elements Work for Their Place on the Page	p. 249
2 Content Hot Spots-Maximize Content Exposure Using Attractors	p. 249
3 Get the Most Out of Cover Photos	p. 249
4 Give the Fans What They Want	p. 250
5 Strategically Position Content	p. 250
6 Use Imagery to Highlight Key Information	p. 250
7 Use Imagery to Highlight Key Information	p. 250
8 Consider Page Structure	p. 250
9 Personalize Elements	p. 250
10 Use Ads "Right"	p. 251
Conclusion	p. 251
References	p. 252
Chapter 10 Mobile	p. 255
Introduction	p. 255
What Can Eye Tracking Tell us About Mobile Design?	p. 258
The Mobile User Experience	p. 258
Mobile Device Size Impacts the UX	p. 259
Mobile Device Eye Tracking in Action	p. 263
Eye Tracking when Testing a Log-In Page on Mobile Apps	p. 263
Eye Tracking the Core Features of a Mobile App	p. 264
Eye Tracking Mobile User Experiences across Multiple Devices	p. 269
Eye Tracking When Testing e-Readers	p. 273
The Technology Behind Eye Tracking Mobile Device Usage	p. 280
Setting Up a Mobile Eye-Tracking Study	p. 284
Analyzing Mobile Eye-Tracking Data	p. 286
Conclusion	p. 287
References	p. 288
Chapter 11 Gaming	p. 291
Introduction	p. 291
Two Roles of Eye Tracking in Video Games	p. 292
Relevant Game Design Elements for UX Eye Tracking and Challenges	p. 295
Menu	p. 295
Cutscenes	p. 297
Overlays	p. 298
Gameplay	p. 300
Common Eye-Tracking Research Questions and Analysis Techniques in Video Games	p. 303
Defining the Research Questions	p. 303
Conclusion	p. 308
References	p. 309
Section 4 Eye Tracking with Unique Populations
Chapter 12 Older Adults	p. 313
Introduction	p. 313
Website Navigation and Search Behavior of Older Adults	p. 316
Conducting UX Research with Older Adults	p. 322
1 Include Large Groups of Older and Younger Participants	p. 323
2 Collect Demographic Data	p. 323
3 Slow Down	p. 324
Conclusion	p. 324
References	p. 325
Chapter 13 Low Literacy Users	p. 331
Introduction	p. 331
The Impact of Literacy on Web Use	p. 332
The Value of Eye Tracking When Designing for Low Literacy	p. 333
Conclusion	p. 346
References	p. 346
Section 5 Conclusion
Chapter 14 The Future of Eye Tracking and User Experience	p. 351
Integrating Eye Tracking into User-Centered Design Methodology	p. 351
Continued Improvements to Eye-Tracking Technology	p. 353
The Future of the Eye-Tracking Technology	p. 355
Ubiquitous Eye Tracking	p. 359
Taking the Next Step	p. 359
References	p. 360
Glossary	p. 361
Index	p. 367

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