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What's going on with Eye Tracking in User Testing.
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Posted On :
Nov-23-2011
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Article Word Count :
565
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Most people who conduct Usability Testing have heard of Eye Tracking via webcam. It claims to detect a persons gave using sophisticated software to map the areas of interest.
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Most people who conduct Usability Testing have heard of Eye Tracking via webcam. It claims to detect a persons gave using sophisticated software to map the areas of interest.
It doesn’t require specialist equipment though and does not have to be conducted under laboratory conditions. Its remote User Testing where the participant can be sat in an armchair at home taking the test in real world conditions.
In fact the only requirement for Eye Tracking is that the participant has access to the basics. Webcam, internet and their own eyes of course.
There are many services out there that off Eye Tracking. The companies select their participants, conduct the study, produce a report and outline the areas of interest.
Testing User decided to experiment with one of these services to see what participating was actually like. Once signed up as a new tester I received an e-mail advising me that the webcam should be positioned at the centre of the monitor, any other programs running on my PC were to be closed and that I wasn’t to try to reposition the browser in any way during the test.
Next came the calibration, which as you might have guessed is very similar to being a photo booth for your passport photo. Anyway I had to follow a red dot with my eye, which after about 15 minutes of waiting knew where my eyes were.
Eventually I was ready to start to the test. The first task involved a scenario on the shopping brands website that needed to be completed. This was relatively easy to do and along with the webcam tracked my eye movements. I must say though as impressive as this was the system interface is no way near perfect. The browser crashed three times during the one scenario and just went static as to the point I couldn’t exit at the end.
From what I could gather from the feedback the webcam had failed to record my eye movements, so I had to do the test again. This is due to the decreased accuracy of webcams compared to more sophisticated models.
The analysis itself seems to have a few problems as well. The webcams seem to be only able to deal with single static pages. The longer the session goes and the more the users move their heads the less likely the test is to succeed.
There are more simple problems though with Eye Tracking as a form of User Testing. Poor light conditions, bad webcams, head movements and low tracking quality often lead to inconclusive findings. I’m interested to know how the eye tracking analysts determine what is inadmissible data and what should be included. Statistics even show that only a third of recruits give meaningful data.
Despite the criticisms of it as a truly effective means for Usability Testing. What Eye Tracking has already to brought to the table is not in dispute. Just the idea of being able to track users eye movements with a webcam is still impressive to me. The fact it exists great but not yet a substitute for in person testing.
As the technology and data collection process improves so will the product. Webcam eye tracking will become a bigger market however as of now it is yet to take over the Usability consultancy market.
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Article Source :
http://www.articleseen.com/Article_What's going on with Eye Tracking in User Testing._108426.aspx
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Author Resource :
Frank Holland is an author for Testing User website. He has written articles on user testing and usability testing for good website design.
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Keywords :
User testing, Usability testing, Testing user, Testing users,
Category :
Internet Business
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Web Design
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