Comments on: What Adaptive Path Thinks When It Thinks About Eyetracking http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/2008/03/26/what-adaptive-path-thinks-when-it-thinks-about-eyetracking/ Adaptive Path Blog Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:08:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Kathryn http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/2008/03/26/what-adaptive-path-thinks-when-it-thinks-about-eyetracking/#comment-176997 Kathryn Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:03:24 +0000 http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/2008/03/26/what-adaptive-path-thinks-when-it-thinks-about-eyetracking/#comment-176997 We've done eyetracking several times and we found it very worthwhile especially if you want to track the effectiveness of merchandising on your site. During traditional usability studies people say they hate ads and ignore them, but through eyetracking we can see that they are drawn to them. The vendor we have used, eyetracking.com, does our testing for us and the price is very competitive with doing traditional testing alone. Plus, out executives were absolutely fascinated with the technology and watching the pupils on the screen. Getting and keeping their interest in usability testing is imperative to getting financing. We’ve done eyetracking several times and we found it very worthwhile especially if you want to track the effectiveness of merchandising on your site. During traditional usability studies people say they hate ads and ignore them, but through eyetracking we can see that they are drawn to them. The vendor we have used, eyetracking.com, does our testing for us and the price is very competitive with doing traditional testing alone. Plus, out executives were absolutely fascinated with the technology and watching the pupils on the screen. Getting and keeping their interest in usability testing is imperative to getting financing.

]]> By: AndyEd http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/2008/03/26/what-adaptive-path-thinks-when-it-thinks-about-eyetracking/#comment-176974 AndyEd Sat, 29 Mar 2008 12:03:38 +0000 http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/2008/03/26/what-adaptive-path-thinks-when-it-thinks-about-eyetracking/#comment-176974 One of the aspects of eye tracking not mentioned here is it's great utility while conducting a traditional usability study to provide an additional input stream beyond verbal protocol. The real time gaze data makes me a much more effective test conductor. I'll have to defer on the dialogue on the utility of eyetracking -- it's a much more complicated topic than this forum can do justice to. There are some strong opportunities for quantifying learnability that are otherwise quite elusive. One of the aspects of eye tracking not mentioned here is it’s great utility while conducting a traditional usability study to provide an additional input stream beyond verbal protocol.

The real time gaze data makes me a much more effective test conductor.

I’ll have to defer on the dialogue on the utility of eyetracking — it’s a much more complicated topic than this forum can do justice to. There are some strong opportunities for quantifying learnability that are otherwise quite elusive.

]]> By: Sune Alstrup http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/2008/03/26/what-adaptive-path-thinks-when-it-thinks-about-eyetracking/#comment-176958 Sune Alstrup Fri, 28 Mar 2008 07:04:54 +0000 http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/2008/03/26/what-adaptive-path-thinks-when-it-thinks-about-eyetracking/#comment-176958 First a comment to Brandon: Information designers are NOT able to anticipate eye movements, not even for very simple stimulus. As part of my thesis some years ago I did an experiment, where this was evident. Experienced web designers were asked to predict the typical gaze path, and this was compared against the actual eye movement pattern. There were no correlation. Secondly, eye tracking is often perceived to be expensive, and people believe it is very time consuming, as well as difficult to interpret the data. It is true... if you have to rent or buy an eye tracker for a single study, and don't have any training in using an eye tracker. Probably you would have to bill customers for rental and the time it takes to learn how to use the equipment. Sure the ROI would be very low for such a study. But... what if you outsource the study to a company that specializes in eye tracking? A company that got the right equipment, and holds the expertise to interpret the data? What happens when eye tracking studies cost the same as classic UE work? Why should you should not choose eye tracking as a supplement to the classic methods? First a comment to Brandon: Information designers are NOT able to anticipate eye movements, not even for very simple stimulus. As part of my thesis some years ago I did an experiment, where this was evident. Experienced web designers were asked to predict the typical gaze path, and this was compared against the actual eye movement pattern. There were no correlation.

Secondly, eye tracking is often perceived to be expensive, and people believe it is very time consuming, as well as difficult to interpret the data. It is true… if you have to rent or buy an eye tracker for a single study, and don’t have any training in using an eye tracker. Probably you would have to bill customers for rental and the time it takes to learn how to use the equipment. Sure the ROI would be very low for such a study.

But… what if you outsource the study to a company that specializes in eye tracking? A company that got the right equipment, and holds the expertise to interpret the data? What happens when eye tracking studies cost the same as classic UE work? Why should you should not choose eye tracking as a supplement to the classic methods?

]]> By: Andrew http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/2008/03/26/what-adaptive-path-thinks-when-it-thinks-about-eyetracking/#comment-176943 Andrew Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:23:13 +0000 http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/2008/03/26/what-adaptive-path-thinks-when-it-thinks-about-eyetracking/#comment-176943 I worked briefly for <a href="http://eyesquare.netdiscounter.de/english/" rel="nofollow">a firm in Berlin</a> that did traditional usability testing but sort of specialized in eyetracking. They actually did quite a lot of studies that weren't computer-based: they did studies of print ads, physical store signage, and a couple of other things. They've got a <a href="http://eyesquare.netdiscounter.de/english/methods-en.htm" rel="nofollow">section on methods</a> that shows some of the custom tools they've built to help clients interpret eyetracking data, and some articles on how they've used it in all kinds of studies. Luckily the gear has gotten cheaper and lighter, and really is unobtrusive enough to wear into a supermarket, for example. I worked briefly for a firm in Berlin that did traditional usability testing but sort of specialized in eyetracking. They actually did quite a lot of studies that weren’t computer-based: they did studies of print ads, physical store signage, and a couple of other things. They’ve got a section on methods that shows some of the custom tools they’ve built to help clients interpret eyetracking data, and some articles on how they’ve used it in all kinds of studies. Luckily the gear has gotten cheaper and lighter, and really is unobtrusive enough to wear into a supermarket, for example.

]]> By: Mark http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/2008/03/26/what-adaptive-path-thinks-when-it-thinks-about-eyetracking/#comment-176941 Mark Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:27:15 +0000 http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/2008/03/26/what-adaptive-path-thinks-when-it-thinks-about-eyetracking/#comment-176941 More so than strictly tracking eye movements on an GUI, it would be interesting to track eye movements within a more complete context. It could be valuable to track the eye movements of someone interacting with an car dashboard while they are driving for example. How does limited attention and timing to the interface affect focal points and decision making? More so than strictly tracking eye movements on an GUI, it would be interesting to track eye movements within a more complete context. It could be valuable to track the eye movements of someone interacting with an car dashboard while they are driving for example. How does limited attention and timing to the interface affect focal points and decision making?

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