1. Eye Tracking for Usability A Primer for User Experience Professionals

2. Agenda

3. Introduction Hi! Dan Berlin, MBA, MSHFID @banderlin dan@danielberlin.com 2 years researching neuromarketing methods - eye tracking, biometrics, neurology, emotions

4. Eye Tracking Vendors Two main players: & Tobii Based in Sweden, offers the same equipment for scientific research, & has assistive technology products SMI Based in Germany, offers high-end & integrated equipment for scientific research

6. T60 & XL: depends on your needs

7. Glasses: brand new

8. depends on IR markers

9. only 30 Hz

10. small DVR

11. You probably don’t need 120 Hz

13. 60/120 Hz (also have 250 Hz model)

14. Use a screen up to 300”

15. iView X HED

16. Up to 200 Hz

17. Uses a notebook or subcomputer

18. No IR markers

19. Germaphobes: gotta clean that hat

21. When is Eye Tracking Appropriate? In benchmark studies Comparing user behavior to different design or interaction concepts No think-aloud, just explore the site Can be done with a static composition or a wireframe Compare, compare, compare – there are no benchmarks Use metrics to determine if participants are looking at areas of interest Not all AOIs are equal – some should be more important to the business Static pages: 10 to 20 second exposure Otherwise: the big red blob – they look everywhere

22. Eye Tracking Output The typical outputs from eye tracking: Fixations & duration Time to 1st fixation Gaze plots & heat maps Areas of interest (AOIs) Pupil dilation But first, some information from a study published the Journal of Advertising Research

23. Attentive vs. Emotive Advertising Measured fixations per second (FPS) for two types of television ads Attentive = top-down processing Emotive = bottom-up processing They found that the different types of ads were just as effective at different levels of attention (FPS) Attentive = high # of fixations Emotive = low # of fixations So, we must consider what we are testing when examining the data Interactive Web sites necessarily require high attention vs. Heath, Nairn, & Bottomley. (2009) “How Effective is Creativity? Emotive Content in TV Advertising Does not Increase Attention.” Journal of Advertising Research. 49(4). 450-463.

24. Eye Tracking Metrics Fixations vs. duration Basically, they are the same Both measure levels of active attention and cognition We will never know if an increased duration indicates confusion or interest Fixations per second is the traditional measure of active attention Gaze plots and heat maps Eye candy and not much else – but clients love them Bolster your eye candy with data! Pupil dilation Impossible to measure accurately – don’t use it

25. Ok, so how should I use eye tracking metrics? Use areas of interest to compare metrics How many fixations are in (un)important AOIs? Will determine if an important AOI needs more emphasis How do fixations in similar AOIs compare between different design treatments? Will determine which design better achieves business goals How long does it take participants to get to a particular AOI? (time to 1st fixation) You only have a few seconds to impress a user – are they looking at that which you want them to?

27. Participant Recruitment Make sure you ask about eye ailments Retina & cornea damage, eye cancer & tumors, macular degeneration, cataracts, conjunctivitis, and nystagmus Not necessarily problematic: amblyopia, glaucoma, and strabismus If possible, you want to use the data from everyone you bring in Add questions to your screener to ensure you can eye track your participants

28. War Stories The most frustrating thing about eye tracking: losing the signal You’ll get a good calibration, the data starts off nicely, then the user changes position and <poof>, there goes the eye tracking What do you do? “Since you are watching where I’m looking, I was trying not to look in some areas.” Sometimes, the eye tracking data will inform you which participant should be shown the door

30. These are the only hotspots on the entire page

31. When asked why this design comp was given a low rating, the response: “because she’s fat”