Knowledge of eye tracking aspects allows you to not only create useful websites, but also to make the information transfer effective and certain online advertisements eye-catching. Eye tracking (also called eye-tracking) allows you to track the movements of the eyeballs. This tool is used in many branches of knowledge, such as psychology, computer science, medicine or marketing.
History of eye tracking
The first attempts to study eye movement through observation can be found already in the 19th century. The names of famous scientists such as Louis Émile Javal, Edmund Huey, Guy Thomas Buswella, Alfred L. Yarbus, Marcel A. Just, Patricia A. Carpenter, Anna Polkowska and Ida Kurcz are algeria b2b leads directly or indirectly connected with research on this subject. Issues related to eye-tracking research are developing and are often conducted together with other methods (e.g. loud introspection).
How to test eye movements
The most popular types of eye trackers include:
those that are based on an eyeball overlay - this method provides very accurate results
those that are based on optical, non-contact methods of measuring eye movement
those that are based on the use of electrical potential measured by electrodes located around the eyes.
Eye tracking research can help you find out what Internet users pay attention to the most, which sites catch their eye, which links are most likely to be ignored, which issues are likely to be noticed and which are likely to be missed. Eye tracking research results come in three basic forms.
These are:
heat maps
Fixation maps
results for specific areas of interest
film with a marker indicating the current visual focus.
What the research says about eye tracking
The research conducted on eye tracking is relatively extensive and provides a wide range of knowledge on the subject. It is not possible to discuss it in its entirety in a few sentences, but it is worth knowing a few interesting facts that are helpful for people working in the e-business industry:
the largest amount of information is collected by Internet users from the first lines of a given text, starting from the left edge of the screen
the reader's eyesight focuses on the most important issues, information is absorbed selectively - we select it with our eyesight, according to our criteria of the importance or unimportance of the message
placing graphic elements in the middle of the text may be met with a glance. The Internet user may treat it as an obstacle, unless the specific image fits the text well and refers to it
illegible images are often treated as obstacles to be skipped
when it comes to specific graphics, it is not only their aesthetics that are important, but also whether they contain useful information
Internet users often pay attention to graphic elements in which the photographed person looks straight into the lens
information overload, a page saturated with content has the same negative effect as too little information. Pages designed in a simple way make the Internet user focus more on the content that is available on them
images should not be inappropriate and inserted without reference to a specific text - they will fulfill their functions only if they refer to it
studies have also shown that the eyes of a large part of Internet users skip banner ads. Children under seven years of age click on them most often - due to the colors or specific animations.
When creating a website, it is worth familiarizing yourself with issues related to eye tracking. It will certainly be helpful for us when arranging individual elements on the website and selecting aspects that attract attention.
