How does eye tracking work?

Eye tracking is a sensor technology that can detect and follow what participants are looking at in real-time. The technology converts eye movements into a data stream, from which you can extract meaningful insights.

The outputs consist of heatmaps and gaze plots.

Heat maps are representations of the density of looking at a stimulus such as a website. Generally, a colour scale with red representing the highest density and green representing the lowest density, is used to show the smooth transition between areas with more and less looking.

The point-of-gaze plot is a data visualisation that is complementary to heat maps. Instead of the spatial distribution of looking, gaze plots provide precise information about the order, timing and location of fixations. In this way, gaze plots can provide a complete record of the gaze pattern of a participant during a specific stimulus.

Benefits of incorporating it into your usability testing process

• Provides objective data: Eye tracking research provides objective data on user experience. It tracks where users are looking at and what they are focusing on. This eliminates the need for users to self-report their actions, which can be unreliable. It provides quantitative metrics, such as fixation duration and gaze plots, which can be used for statistical analysis and to track improvements over time.

• Sheds light on user attention: By tracking eye movements, you can gain valuable insights into what captures users' attention and what goes unnoticed. This helps in making design decisions that guide users towards the most relevant and important content.

• Great for A/B testing: Eye tracking can be used for A/B testing or comparative usability studies. You can compare the eye movements of users when presented with different website layouts, designs, or content to determine which performs better in terms of user engagement and attention.

• Makes persona comparison much easier: Eye tracking can reveal differences in how different user groups interact with your website. For instance, you can identify if there are usability issues specific to certain demographics, such as age or gender.

  
  

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