The value of eye tracking vs. observation and mouse tracking

A very simple way to illustrate what kind of additional information you get in a usability study by using eye tracking is to watch the video below video (http://bit.ly/gazemouse) that I just uploaded on YouTube. In this video you observe a person completing a task on a website (www.spotify.com) the task was to sign up for the paid service (called Premium). First you will see the person completing the task without seeing the persons eye movements, only the mouse movements can be seen. In the second video you can also see the eye movements in addition to the mouse movements.

As you can see in the video the eye tracking data does provide you with more information about the person’s behavior while completing this task. In this study we found a clear pattern: even though several participants in the study did click on the right button (Premium) they hesitated and compared all the other available sign-up options (4) on the web page. Based on this insight the web page has now been optimized and only has one sign-up option (see www.spotify.com), instead of four on the old web page.

In the same study we also compared the value of different cues when using the retrospective think (RTA) aloud method in web usability testing: an un-cued RTA, a video cued RTA, a gaze plot cued RTA, and a gaze video cued RTA. The findings suggest that using a gaze plot or gaze video cue stimulates participants to produce the highest number of words and comments, and mention more usability problems during the interview. Read the paper here (pdf).

Returning to the Premium problem described above, none of the participants in the un-cued group mentioned anything about this problem during the interview. They just said the web page was easy to use and that they had no comments about the first page. In other words without the additional information that eye tracking provided we would not have spotted this issue on the Spotify web page.

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February 14th, 2011 | Category: Eye Tracking, Usability, Value of eye tracking | One comment

New revolutionary eye tracker: Tobii Glasses

Today June 22, 2010 Tobii launched a new revolutionary eye tracker: Tobii Glasses (see: http://www.tobiiglasses.com). This is the first head mounted, or wearable eye tracker from Tobii. Just like all of the other eye trackers from Tobii, Glasses is taking eye tracking to the next level. Unlike other wearable eye tracking systems Glasses is very lightweight (Glasses 75 grams plus recording assistant 200 grams), just like wearing a pair of sun glasses and an iPod. This is not the only revolutionary thing about Tobii

Glasses, the real leap forward is the ease of use and the ability to aggregate eye tracking data which enables you to conduct quantitative eye tracking studies which is really unique for a wearable eye tracker.  To be able to do this Tobii has developed a new technology called AOA-Track with small markers that emits infrared light. By placing these IR-markers around objects and/or areas you want to study in depth, Tobii Glasses automatically knows when a person is looking within these areas and will automatically aggregate the data from all the participants in an eye tracking study. This is truly amazing! Previously when doing this kind of research it has required a lot of manual coding work to be able to do this, now it all happens automatically and you are able to use the analysis software Tobii Studio to analyze the data just as if it was recorded with a stationary eye tracker. In other words you can create visualizations like heat maps and gaze plots, calculate statistics etc automatically with data from a Tobii Glasses recording.

The device also includes a microphone and of course a camera filming everything the participant is looking at so it can also be used for qualitative studies (you just watch the recording as a video with the gaze point overlaid) and might even enable new research methodologies, what do you say about “Concurrent Think Aloud Walking” in usability research for example!

To learn more about the Tobii Glass please visit these resources online:

Video about how to use Tobii Glasses for Market Research:
http://www.tobiiglasses.com/marketresearch/

Video about how to use Tobii Glasses in Scientific Research:

http://www.tobiiglasses.com/scientificresearch/

Tobii Glasses Product Leaflet (pdf)

Tobii Glasses product page on Tobii.com here

Examples

These are some examples from Tobii Glasses recordings we did in a Supermarket.

Watch a shopper in a supermarket being eye tracked in the YouTube video below

This is a Gaze Plot showing how a person is searching for a product on the shampoo shelf. IR-markers have been placed on the shelf to enable us to collect the data.

This is another shelf, the heat map shows the aggregated data from 30 recordings and reveals where people look when deciding which product to buy. IR-markers have been placed on the shelf (try to find them!) to enable us to aggregate the data and make this heat map.

YouTube video describing Tobii Glasses

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June 22nd, 2010 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

EyeTrackUX 2010 on June 2-3 in Belgium

This year we will have a super exiting conference on eye tracking in user experience research – EyeTrackUX 2010 – to be arranged in Leuven (near Brussels), Belgium on June 2-3, 2010 in co-operation with Centre for User Experience Research (CUO) at IBBT / K.U. Leuven. We just launched the website on www.eyetrackux.com and the call for speakers so register and submit your speaking proposal today! On June 1, the day before the conference, we will arrange a separate full day course on how to use eye tracking in web UX research and present 7 successful methods you can use.

Additionally I’m happy to announce that we have a confirmed speaker from Google at EyeTrackUX 2010: Anne Aula,  Senior User Experience Researcher. She will talk about:

How and why Google uses eyetracking in user experience research.
By Anne Aula, Senior User Experience Researcher, Google Inc.

“In this talk, I will talk about the various ways in which we use eyetracking at Google. I will highlight the reasoning behind key methodological decisions – such as using eyetracking as a qualitative supplement to think aloud studies or running more controlled experiments where eyetracking is the main source of data. I will also give examples of more controlled experiments we’ve run to explore how changes in pupil size predict the relevance of search results and how eye and mouse movements are coordinated when users are scanning search results. Throughout the talk, I will focus on the main question: in a fast paced product development environment, when is eyetracking worth the trouble?”

In other words, block June 2-3 in your calendar for EyeTrackUX 2010!

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March 26th, 2010 | Category: Events | Leave a comment

New large online library of eye tracking publications

A new library of eye tracking publications has been made available by Tobii. In this unique library you can find publications and papers on the use of eye tracking within many different research fields. Every item has a title, abstract, keywords, and in most cases a link to the full text paper, which makes it easy to find publications within your field of interest. This library already contains more than 270 publications and more will be added all the time. Access the library here: http://www.diigo.com/list/tobiieyetracking

Or by clicking on one of the categories below:

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March 23rd, 2010 | Category: Eye Tracking | Leave a comment

Upcoming Tobii eye tracking events

There are a number of exciting Tobii eye tracking events being arranged this spring. Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Course: Designing behavioral experiments with Tobii eye trackers and eye tracking software
Date and time: Wednesday, May 26th 2010, 9:00am – 5:00pm
Place: Tobii Technology office, Danderyd, Stockholm, Sweden
Registration and more information here

Conference: Emotions – Arousal – Pupil Dilation
Date and time: Thursday, May 27th 2010 09:00 – Friday, May 28th 2010 1:00pm
Place: Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Registration and more information here

Course: Baking with Tobii: 7 delicious recipes for successful eye tracking use in web usability studies
Date and time: Tuesday June 1th 2010
Place: Leuven, Belgium
Registration and more information here

Conference: EyeTrackUX 2010 – Tobii’s Eye tracking conference on User Experience
Date and time: Wednesday June 2nd 2010 – Thursday June 3rd
Place: K.U. Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Registration and more information here

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March 22nd, 2010 | Category: Events | Leave a comment

New white paper: Using eye tracking to test mobile devices

Tobii has now released a new extensive white paper describing how eye tracking can be used to complete user tests on mobile devices. eyetracking_mobileThere are several challenges when using an eye tracker together with a mobile phone, both in the physical setup and in the human physiology. The paper explains the challenges and presents three different setups that works.

You can read and download the white paper Using eye tracking to test mobile devices on Scribd here

Recently another video clip was released on YouTube by Herbstwerbung showing how a Tobii x120 eye tracker was used to track the eye movements when using an iPhone. Watch the clip below:

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March 1st, 2010 | Category: Eye Tracking, Methods, Usability | Leave a comment

Eye tracking + mobile devices = works?

A lot of people has asked us for advice on how to use Tobii eye trackers for studying user behavior on mobile devices like mobile phones and pda:s. Next week we will release a extensive white paper on this topic where we are comparing a few different eye tracker setups. We have already now published a video on YouTube describing these setups and the pros and cons. Watch the clip below and return to my blog or keep your eyes open next week and you’ll be able to download and read the white paper.

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February 19th, 2010 | Category: Eye Tracking, Hardware, Methods, Study design, Usability | Leave a comment

New eye tracking competition and stipend: The EyeTrackAwards

tobii_logotype_eyetrackawards_small_newToday Tobii launched an interesting new competition, the annual EyeTrackAwards. The award recognizes research and projects that have generated new knowledge and insights by using eye tracking technology. The winner of the EyeTrackAwards will receive a 5 000 EUR prize.

Another part of the EyeTrackAwards is a stipend that supports unique and outstanding academic research projects with free eye tracking equipment from Tobii.

Read more about the competition and the stipend on http://www.eyetrackawards.com

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February 16th, 2010 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

New white paper on eye tracking and Tobii eye trackers

tobii_general_paper

Yesterday Tobii released a new white paper on eye tracking and eye tracking technology. The aim of the paper is to give a brief introduction to the human visual system, and to explain how eye movements are recorded and processed by Tobii Eye Trackers. Some basic concepts and issues related to remote eye tracking and eye movement data interpretation are also briefly discussed.

It is a good document for beginners to read to gain more knowledge on eye movements and eye tracking, but also experienced eye tracking users can find the paper interesting as it explains more about how Tobii’s technology works.

  • The paper can be read and downloaded HERE.
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January 28th, 2010 | Category: Eye Tracking, Hardware | Leave a comment

Why you need eye tracking in web usability studies

Rob Stevens from Think Eyetracking and Bunnyfoot has now released a summary on YouTube from his talk on why you need eye tracking in web usability studies. The videos were recorded during the The Great Eye Tracking Debate in May 2009 (read summary from the event  HERE). In the clip Rob mainly talks about the PEEP method, or retrospective think aloud (RTA) in combination with eye tracking, as he argues that the concurrent think aloud (CTA) method has flaws as a lot of processes are subconscious when performing a task for example on a web page. I have previously written about this method here on my blog.

Rob’s main arguments for using eye tracking in web usability studies is that eye tracking enables:

1. Better user tests by using retrospective think aloud instead of concurrent think aloud

2. Optimize designs by doing mass user testing (quantitative eye tracking tests)

3. Helps non specialist stake holder engage with usability – and take actions based on the usability findings

Watch the two YouTube clips below:

UPDATE
Kara Pernice’s speech from the Great Eye Tracking Debate has now been made available on YouTube. Watch it below:

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January 11th, 2010 | Tags: , , , , , | Category: Eye Tracking, Methods, Usability, Value of eye tracking | One comment
 
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