Eyetrack studies: What we've learned and how to conduct your own
Thursday, January 08, 2009
As webmasters and site designers, it's easy to fall into the trap of being so familiar with a site's interface that we disregard the notion that navigating does not come as easy for visitors. Often web users have different viewing habits than we do and eyetrack studies have worked hard to determine what they are:
1. Users will skip anything that looks like an ad
Banner blindness is real, according to this 2007 study. Web visitors don't read websites as much as they scan them, which means ignoring ads in both the header and rail of a web page, as evidenced in the heat map on the right.
2. Readers like "F"s
In a further explanation of the above study, it is revealed that web users read in a pattern that looks like a capital letter F. "At the top, users read all the way across, but as they proceed their descent quickens and horizontal sight contracts, with a slowdown around the middle of the page," according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. "Near the bottom, eyes move almost vertically, the lower-right corner of the page largely ignored."
3. The higher your search engine rank, the more visitors you will attract
This one's a bit of a no-brainer for anyone who has been working with the web for a while, but the results of a combined study confirms it. It is also important to note that whereas years ago users may have clicked through a few pages of search results, many will not look past the top few results.
4. Young people want info and they want it now
In this comparison of the Contra Costa Times' and San Jose Mercury News' websites, the interviewees revealed that they prefer clearer, less jumbled layouts and, again, that the most important information be at the top. Most interestingly, the test subjects also rejected time-tested methods of encouraging interactivity such as polls or links to multimedia stories.
There are several online tools like CrazyEgg and clickdensity (which offers a free trial) that will test the usability of your site. In return, you will find out how users view your site and can amend it appropriately to increase user interaction. Financially challenged site masters can also use Google Analytics' free site overlay feature (pictured below). Click here for a comparison of the features offered by CrazyEgg and Google.
1. Users will skip anything that looks like an ad
Banner blindness is real, according to this 2007 study. Web visitors don't read websites as much as they scan them, which means ignoring ads in both the header and rail of a web page, as evidenced in the heat map on the right.
2. Readers like "F"s
In a further explanation of the above study, it is revealed that web users read in a pattern that looks like a capital letter F. "At the top, users read all the way across, but as they proceed their descent quickens and horizontal sight contracts, with a slowdown around the middle of the page," according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. "Near the bottom, eyes move almost vertically, the lower-right corner of the page largely ignored."
3. The higher your search engine rank, the more visitors you will attract
This one's a bit of a no-brainer for anyone who has been working with the web for a while, but the results of a combined study confirms it. It is also important to note that whereas years ago users may have clicked through a few pages of search results, many will not look past the top few results.
4. Young people want info and they want it now
In this comparison of the Contra Costa Times' and San Jose Mercury News' websites, the interviewees revealed that they prefer clearer, less jumbled layouts and, again, that the most important information be at the top. Most interestingly, the test subjects also rejected time-tested methods of encouraging interactivity such as polls or links to multimedia stories.
There are several online tools like CrazyEgg and clickdensity (which offers a free trial) that will test the usability of your site. In return, you will find out how users view your site and can amend it appropriately to increase user interaction. Financially challenged site masters can also use Google Analytics' free site overlay feature (pictured below). Click here for a comparison of the features offered by CrazyEgg and Google.
Labels: site management
0 Comments
