Interesting article and discussion. I've done a number of eyetracking studies and can say that there is one thing that eyetracking is always great for- communication. Even if you know that a problem exists, it is sometimes difficult to communicate that understanding to people not as well versed in design as we are. Eyetracking provides some great visuals that show the problem in a concrete way.
Paul Nuschke Human Factors Analyst Electronic Ink On Nov 21, 2007 10:56 AM, Robert Hoekman, Jr. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > 23 rules actionable lessons from eye-tracking studies: > http://tinyurl.com/yrhydu > > I'm curious whether or not others on the list take this stuff seriously. I > haven't decided yet if I think eye-tracking is a useful tool, and although I > definitely have some opinions on the subject, I'd like some other > perspectives to form a better picture. > > Several of these "actionable lessons" bother me. For example, "One-column > formats perform better in eye-fixation than multi-column formats." > * > * > This seems painfully obvious, and also completely useless. Of course a > single-column is going to perform better - you only have to look at a single > column rather than two! But how does this help us? I'm certainly not going > to start using single-column layouts all the time just because it's faster. > When it comes down to it, a few seconds difference in the time it takes to > digest a page isn't going to make or break a user's experience. What matters > is whether the content is worth it. What matters is whether the value in > exploring the page outweighs the difficulty in doing so. > > Another: "Ads placed next to the best content are seen more often." > > Again, painfully obvious. But does this mean that people actually "see" the > ads, or that they happen to fixate on them for more than a millisecond? Does > it mean they read them? Click them more often? > > There are so many factors to consider in web design and usability, it's hard > to imagine that eye-tracking results can yield information that is truly > helpful. > > -r- > ________________________________________________________________ > *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* > February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA > Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ > > ________________________________________________________________ > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help > ________________________________________________________________ *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
