How Eye Tracking Can Optimise Website Design & UI
Eye tracking technology allows us to track and record a person's eye movements when they view a screen. It effectively improves user experience, allowing developers to understand what the user is looking at and react appropriately.
Eye tracking technology is the latest cutting-edge tool that you can use to increase conversions. Eye tracking helps you to identify where your visitors' attention is focused, and it can tell you where they're looking, what they're reading, where they are looking on the page and what they're looking at.
By knowing the exact areas where people are focusing, you can work to make your web design and your user interface (UI) more appealing and more beneficial to the visitor.
Eye tracking is a technique used to determine what users are looking at on your website. With the right eye tracking software and hardware, you can easily collect data from users and see what they are doing on your website. You can use this data to improve the user experience, help users navigate and find information faster, and even improve conversion rates.
This article will explain how you can use eye tracking to optimise your website design and user interface.
Table of Contents
How Does Eye Tracking Work?
Our eyes are sensitive to light and colour. We use this sensitivity to help navigate the world around us, but sometimes that sensitivity can cause problems. For example, if your eyes see something bright, they can react by focusing on it and ignoring other things happening around them. In severe cases, this causes eye strain and headaches.
Eye tracking technology uses infrared light to measure how much light your eyes are exposed to and determine which colours are the brightest and darkest. This information is then used to create a custom screen filter for your computer or mobile device that automatically adjusts the brightness, contrast, and colour settings.
There are a few different ways to use eye tracking technology. One of the most popular applications is seeing what people look at when they use your computer or smartphone. Using software that tracks and analyses your eyes, the computer or device can tell what parts of the screen or document are being looked at and adjust the settings accordingly.
Another application of eye tracking technology is in the field of gaming. By monitoring and analysing how players move their eyes while playing video games, companies can adjust the graphics and gameplay to look more realistic.
Best Eye Tracking Technology for Gaming
Gamers often complain about playing on a low-resolution screen, so it's not surprising that companies are trying to make games more immersive by improving their graphics and creating realistic environments. In addition to enhancing the game experience, you can use eye tracking technology to track the movement of a player's eyes while playing and then create animations that follow their movements.
While measuring how much time a player spends looking at different game areas is complex, the technology can still be helpful to optimise graphics and gameplay. When you're playing a video game, you can't help but notice that the background is often black and white or the character sprites are monochrome. Eye tracking technology can help make these elements look more realistic.
In addition to using eye tracking to improve graphics, companies are also applying technology to the design of interfaces. These days, most computers and mobile devices use a touchscreen interface, which usually has very little text. You can use eye tracking technology to give the appearance of a more “realistic” text without needing a stylus or mouse.
Best Eye Tracking Technology for Productivity
You can use eye tracking technology to increase the effectiveness of the software, such as productivity tools. For instance, it's been shown that people who use a computer for work spend less time looking away from the screen than people who use the same computer for social media. By monitoring eye movement and adjusting the settings to reduce screen distraction, eye tracking technology helps users focus and perform their tasks more effectively.
Several eye-tracking technologies are available, but the two most common are Tobii and Eyefluence. Tobii's eye tracker is the most well-known and featured on several television shows, including Shark Tank and The Doctors. It is an infrared camera attached to your head and calibrates before you use it to track your eyes.
Eyefluence is a newer eye tracker that doesn't attach to the head but sits on top of the screen. It is also a wearable eye tracking device that measures eye movement and activity while working on your computer.
The most affordable eye tracking technology is the EOG or electrooculography. The EOG is a simple tool that measures eye movement by attaching a small, wired electrode to the surface of your cheek. The EOG works with any computer but is not as accurate as the other technologies and is generally not used in high-end applications.
What Does Eye Tracking Tell Us about Web Design?
Let's say you are a web designer, and you are given the task of creating a new website, a new online store, or a new app.
How do you know which pages and elements are the most appealing to your audience? You may use any analytics data to measure which pages are visited the most, but you may not realise that eye tracking provides us with more detailed information.
Eye tracking software lets us capture eye movements as users interact with websites, apps, and other digital media. This software lets you know what users are looking at, what they are clicking on, and why they are interacting with certain parts of the design.
One of the most important things to consider when designing a site or app is the “user experience.” What does this mean exactly? How should the site or app work? Do people feel engaged or frustrated while using it? Can they navigate it efficiently?
Eye tracking can help us understand the answers to these questions. This is one of the reasons why eye tracking is used to analyse user experiences.
Eye tracking can tell us which design elements work and which ones don't. It can help us understand which pages are more attractive to users. It can also tell us which sections or features are not engaging enough and, thus, which we should remove to give the user a more positive experience.
Eye tracking can show us where the site or app needs improvements, like a better navigation menu, more content, or easier-to-use features. It can also reveal confusing, unprofessional, or downright annoying elements. It can tell us how to improve the user experience and the chances of getting more customers.
How to use Eye Tracking To Improve Usability
As you begin exploring the web, you may notice that many websites you visit are difficult to navigate. One recent study estimated that the average person spends only 2 minutes of every ten on a website before abandoning it. The problem with this statistic is that users spend more time in front of the computer than ever before.
With all this online time, a website's design needs to be optimised to ensure that users stay engaged and generate leads. So, what can you do to make your site more attractive and increase user retention?
Eye tracking software is an excellent tool for testing the usability of a website. If you haven't tried eye tracking, this is an excellent opportunity to give it a go. With eye tracking, you'll see which elements on the screen capture attention, where people spend the most time looking, and how quickly they complete tasks on your website.
Once you've gathered this information, you'll understand your user's needs better, enabling you to create a more effective site. For example, you can determine whether people are distracted by a button or link or by too much text on the page. By identifying these site areas, you can adjust the design to make your site more efficient.
You'll also be able to determine how long people spend on a page, which could indicate your site's conversion rate. You can adjust your website based on these results to focus on what matters most.
So, How Can Eye Tracking Improve Your Website Usability?
By collecting eye tracking data, you'll learn what type of content your users find engaging and compelling. You'll also learn what elements distract your users and what buttons or links they tend to ignore.
This is precious information to have. It lets you make critical decisions about the layout and content of your site. For instance, you may discover that some pages require more copy than others or that some information is more critical than others.
Eye tracking can also inform the design of your website. For example, if you discover that people spend much time clicking on your company logo, you may want to consider placing that section of your site toward the bottom of the page. Visitors are less likely to leave when they click on the logo.
- Sauro, Jeff (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 124 Pages – 11/02/2010 (Publication Date) – CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (Publisher)
How Do I Get Started Using Eye Tracking?
You don't need any special equipment to collect eye tracking data. Download an app or plug into a browser extension that lets you record your participants' eye movements.
If you're using a smartphone, you may be interested in the free version of Tobii, which is compatible with iOS and Android. You can also use the Tobii EyeX device. If you're interested in learning more about Tobii, check out the official website.
Application: Analysing Web User Experience & Behaviour
When the data is analysed, the eye tracker can tell you where the eyes were looking (and for how long) at specific points of interest on the screen.
Instead, the eye tracker records the pattern of where the eyes go concerning the text. This means that the eye tracker measures the physical distance from the reader's eye to a given point of interest on the page. The software analyses this information and provides a visual representation of what that user was reading at that moment.
Regarding web experience and behaviour, eye tracking technology helps you identify problems in how a website is designed or how people interact with content.
For example, the eye tracker can tell whether someone skips, clicks randomly, or follows links. This data can be used to make improvements to a website or app, and by identifying problems, you can improve the user experience.
Eye tracking technology is also helpful for websites where the audience is mobile-based. It's a great way to understand how people use your website, but it can also be a valuable tool for mobile application development.
As we move towards a more mobile-centric world, eye tracking technology will become increasingly crucial for businesses looking to optimise their mobile experiences.
You can use this data to inform your design decisions. Are users clicking on things, or are they just zooming past? Is the content relevant to them, or do they need to read much content before getting to the point?
The power of eye tracking technology lies in that it's more objective and accurate than any other form of analysis. If you've questions about your website or mobile apps, try a free trial of the eye tracking software below.
How Does Eye Tracking Software Work?
Eye tracking works by placing an infrared light on the screen. This light reflects off the surface of your eye, and the eye tracker picks up the reflection.
Once the eye tracker has recorded your eye movements, the data is analysed and visualised to determine your viewing preferences. This is done by analysing your eye movements, measuring the distance between your eye and the screen and determining what part of the screen you were focusing on.
The eye tracking software provides a visual display of this data, which allows you to see exactly where your eyes were focused during the browsing session.
So, How Can I Use Eye Tracking Software for Website Analysis?
The critical thing to remember is that eye tracking software only works when you're sitting still. It's no good watching a video of yourself while you're browsing. The software needs to be able to record your eye movements as they happen, so it needs to be stationary.
To work around this, several ways to ensure that your eye movements are captured. You can:
- use a tripod
- set the camera on a desk or table
- keep the camera still, but turn your head
- sit in a chair and keep your head still
- wear a headset that has an inbuilt eye tracker
A basic eye tracker will not be able to track all of your eye movements, but it's an excellent place to start. You can use eye tracking software to see if your visitors are engaging with your content or just passing by.
If your users spend too much time on the homepage or other areas of the site that aren't critical to your business, then you can alter the content so that it's more inviting. You'll find that the eye tracking software will give you insights into how your customers are interacting with the website, which helps you make informed design decisions.
How Can I Use Eye Tracking Software for Mobile Application Analysis?
Mobile applications are becoming increasingly popular, but it can be tricky to know how your users are interacting with them.
Eye tracking software can provide fantastic insights into how people interact with your mobile app, but it has several limitations.
First, it's best used on desktop platforms – so if you're working with an Android or iOS app, you won't be able to use the eye tracking software.
Second, eye tracking software is pretty expensive. However, a trial will provide exciting insights into how people interact with your app. If you're interested in learning more, try one of the trials below:
Conclusion
Eye tracking software is a great tool to measure user behaviour online. It's a way to monitor where people look on a page and how long they spend looking at specific elements.
The technology is relatively new, but it's already widely adopted by companies like Facebook and Google. As such, it's essential to know what you're looking for when choosing an eye tracking solution.
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Last update on 2024-05-11 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
