Observing natural behaviour when testing mobile applicationsWe’re passionate (and a little bit obsessive) about creating a realistic methodology for testing, and this is no different for mobile applications. Our way of testing means that users aren’t restricted and can freely move their phone while we’re able to accurately track what they are looking at on the screen. (more…)
What could possibly go wrong? (Why all eye tracking is not equal)It is difficult to overestimate the importance of careful and thorough selection procedures when recruiting for an eye tracking study. In a conventional depth interview or focus group a close, but not ideal fit of participant to the recruitment criteria can often be overlooked. However, the subconscious nature of eye movements makes it very hard for a participant to ‘hide’ behind scenarios and imagined motivations, you need the real thing. It might surprise you to learn the range of behavioural and attitudinal criteria we typically recruit against. Experience has taught us that shared behaviours are far more important than shared demo- and geo-graphics.
Some providers offer remote testing methods for screen based quantitative eye tracking, where users are not required to come in to a lab. There are obvious cost savings associated with this as users can be in different locations. However, several grave issues arise with this approach; (more…)
Hasn’t Eye tracking been ‘done’?Eye tracking in market research has a chequered history. Like many methods that have made it into the researchers’ toolkit it followed considerable hype. However eye tracking has proven a particularly difficult labour of acceptance, largely through no fault of its own. The tools, techniques and surrounding methodology have grown up considerably of late and the eye tracking industry has come a long way in a few short years. Today eye tracking is frequently applied in the field of web design and usability testing yet remains relatively under used in market research.
We recognise that early adopters of eye tracking, done badly, may have been burned and that this had bred a hesitance to engage. This article is intended to re-familiarise the research buyer and agency researcher alike with the initial enthusiasm for the method and to help them rediscover the meaningful insight and opportunities eye tracking can provide. This article covers the basic uses of eye-tracking, what to consider when buying it and, crucially, how the range of ways eye tracking can be conducted and analysed contribute greatly to its quality and potential value to a business. (more…)
Eye tracking a user finding out when the last christmas postage day for a package of known dimensions and also getting an idea of cost. User struggles with terminology (it’s classed as a large letter, not a parcel) and finding out costs once they had learned which size category the package was in. User’s brainwaves were monitored using an modern EEG headset, clearly showing periods of frustration.
Learn more about emotion response analysis for neuromarketing here: http://www.simpleusability.com/services/eeg/
Emotion Response Analysis (ERA) uses the latest in unobtrusive brainwave measurement technology to listen in on the brains natural electrical signals, measuring excitement, frustration and engagement. Given that up to 95% of our brain’s processing occurs in the subconscious these signals are indicators of real feelings and emotions. This will help product designers, web professionals and insight managers to better understand what is really driving decisions and how they can change products to better appeal to their consumers.
Our team conducted an eye tracking review of the new GAP website for the November edition of Internet Retailing Magazine. The article can be read here: Gap Eye Tracking Article
The participants who took part in the research for the new gap.eu website were asked to go shopping to replace their favourite pair of jeans.
From the new homepage we were able to observe that users were drawn to the strong colours on the right hand side of the page (graphic outlined by union jack). Users ignored the main photographic element with the ‘New and now’ messaging, and decided to go straight to the top navigation options. From here there were no drop-down menus available so users could not quickly get into the category that they were looking for. (more…)
Real world eye tracking is finally getting the attention it deserves. Recent innovations in wearable eye trackers means research participants no longer have to carry heavy laptops in rucksacks as the walk around in the real world – they just pop on some glasses and just carry an ipod sized data recorder. We were the first agency in the world trusted to use the latest eye tracking glasses for commercial research from Tobii.
Here’s a great video of how Mercedes are using eye tracking glasses in their design process and market research. Unsure about the value of eye tracking? Why not read our article about using eye tracking in market research.
we observe them, what’s looked at first, how long does the glance linger on certain features or in what order do they look at things. (more…)
Users always surprise because their behaviour changes with their environment. The online experience, and more specifically the tools that users have available to them when searching, is evolving with the introduction of Google Instant and Google Instant Preview and behaviour will be changing again.
Google Instant Previews allows users to see what a website looks like before committing to click through to the website. Next to each listing on the results page a magnifying glass icon appears. After users click on this once, a preview appears of that page to the right hand side. Subsequent hovering over other search results listings also previews pages.
There is much consternation about the consequences of this and how it will affect users and also affect future website design. It has the potential to support websites that adopt a greater user centred design approach based on the fact that users quickly make decisions on suitability from the first glance of a website. (more…)
Similar to many children growing up, I always wanted to know why things were the way they were. This hasn’t rectified itself into adult life, therefore it’s ideal that I find myself working as a user experience consultant for SimpleUsability, where I can ask ‘Why?’ all day long.
But in the field of usability, constantly asking a research participant “why?” could become pretty annoying. Moderators of usability studies have to discover different methods to find out the reasons behind why somebody carries out a task in a certain way.
Maybe we should address another question first; “Why ask why?” Technology has provided us with many tools to find out what people are doing, particularly on websites. From analytics we can see what people are clicking on and even watch where attention is driven to. What this doesn’t tell us is why people clicked there, what else they looked at first but were confused about, and also what they missed. (more…)
Our team conducted an eye tracking review of the new Sainsbury’s website for the September edition of Internet Retailing Magazine. The article can be read here: Sainsbury’s Eye Tracking Article
We invited a few current online Sainsbury’s shoppers to carry out their weekly shop in our eye tracking studio. Shoppers started at one end of the grocery primary navigation shopping first in the Fresh section, moving on to Bakery etc. Although they had logged into their accounts, “none of the participants used the ‘My usuals’ or ‘shopping list’ features as they were concerned about missing offers” – isn’t this interesting? Customers always amaze!
Once into a product category, images were incredibly important to the shoppers. Participants scanned down the list of photos looking for familiar products, scanning across to the name and price afterwards. Most shoppers had an idea in their head of what something should cost, and hence used price as a sense check to confirm they were buying the right size or correct product. (more…)
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