The most effective way of telling if an interactive design is working is using eye tracking. With this state of the art technology you can see what the users see and get a clear answers on what works and what’s not.
An eye tracking test is very much like a normal usage test except from that the user is using the eye tracker instead of a normal computer when the test is conducted. The eye tracker it self looks very much like an external flat screen monitor. In the eye tracker there an infrared beam is is used to create a reflection in the respondents eyes. This reflection is picked up by an infra red sensitive camera that registers the slightest eye movements the respondents does down to 1:1000′s of a second and witin a 5mm radius on the screen. By letting this information guide any design decision you have in your possession the most powerful design tool imaginable.
Analyzing the eye tracking data
An eye tracking study generates a vast amount of data that needs to be analyzed carefully in order to to give rise to the findings. The eye tracking software makes it possible to export the test session in full length video showing the eye movements on the screen as a colored lines and dots. This video is then analyzed second by second in order to pick op on any problem the user encounters in the interaction. The software can also create stunning visualizations of every page the users visits during the test.
Visualizing the eye movements
When all users eye movements are gathered and put together very interesting visualizations can be created. The most common visualization is the heat map. This picture showing the users attention like the temperature on a whether map. It displays attractive areas as red color , the slightly less interesting as yellow or green, while the areas not noted by the user is left without coloring. The interesting observation is how similar the users eye movements tend to be are on a page. It is not common that users from totally different target groups basically focus on the same parts of a design. It is the intensity and the time spent on a page that differs the most.
Another interesting visualization is the gaze plot. this picture shows follows a users eye movements as the user views a page. The Gaze plot can show in which order the user takes in a page and judging olny by the pattern showed in the picture it is possible to determine if the user are making sense of the page or if he or she is confused or even got stuck somewhere in the interaction.
The best design tool in the world
I can’t stress enogh how important it is to get to know what the your users perceive. Every time I help a client to conduct usage test the same thing happens. The client always get truly amazed by findings and the clarity and precision of the results. No matter what kind of interactive site or service you have, chances are that the users eye movements could give you invaluable information about how to improve it.
In my opinion is eye tracking the most effective design tool i have. All design work, however creative, is always based on different kinds of ideas or hypothesis. It is only when we can gather live eye tracking data from real users from the real target group that uses the service or viewing the pages can we can know for sure.
We at Box Experience’s wanted to improve our web site. Our web agency called in interaction designer and usability expert Mårten Angner to conduct an eye tracking study on our site. The study fully confirmed our suspicions about usability problems and provided valuable insight into how our customer’s think. Mårten presented clear directions on how to take our site to the next level. Almost like a how-to-guide, created exclusively for us!
I was asked to join the team at Merajobb, the collective job site for three of Sweden’s largest newspapers, to completely redesign their site. My role was to lead, analyze user needs, create a site concept and make sure no greatness was lost in the process. The team, consisting of the developers at HR north, designer Jonas Björkman from The Art of job and I completed the project in record speed. 
Cloud Nine is one of Sweden’s largest independent provider of web solutions. The company has been around since 1999 and apparently they know how the web works. It was therefore quite the honor to be asked to hold a seminar about my sketching techniques in regards on how to not to rush to finished designs before knowing if the functions are as optimal as they can be. The Creative Director Martin Bystedt was quite happy with the seminar and has found use of the technique in the work:
We at NetRelations can absolutely recommend Mårten’s course in sketching technique. This intensive seminar has made an immediate impact on all our staff. Our drawing skills improved instantly and with it came a new and more inspiring approach to both the way we discuss internally to how we communicate with our clients. Almost like creativity-in-a-box!
In an Eye tracking study I conducted for Ginza, users had a hard time getting through the payment process. I was asked to completely redesign the complete check out process. The final solution when published reduced the customer care issues drastically and resulted in an 18% increase in invoice payments, and an over all increase of the payment conversion rate by almost 2%.
Rebtel, the exciting international telecom operator, asked me to make a full scale usage test using eye tracking on their public web site, sign up, and their customer self service area. The eye tracking test immediately brought some totally unexpected errors in the service to Rebtel’s attention as well as provided a solid ground for the strategic design and development decisions in the future.
Ginza is one of Sweden’s foremost media mail-order and e-commerce companies. As a part of the effort to improve their user experience, I was asked to conduct an Eye tracking study on their current site. Although the results were somewhat shocking to Ginza, they were very pleased that their weak points could be addressed immediately. In this post I explain more about how the test was conducted and will also share with you some of the results.
It is now exactly one year since I created the first conceptual sketches for this site. This seemingly simple project was one of the most challenging projects I have ever completed. The site really forced me to use all the methods I have normally use in my projects for clients and have consumed an unbelievable amount of effort to make it perfect in every respect. Here is the story of how it was created.
We at Creuna decided to ask Mårten to give his sketching technique workshop for our design team consisting of both Graphic designers and Interaction designers. What we did not anticipate was exactly how profound effect this little two hour workshop had on our daily design practices!
I was asked by Holiday Autos to help them improve their the web based ordering system for rental cars. I worked closely with the internal development team evaluating the existing solution, and designing a new one. The end result turned out to be a great success when tested on users. The time needed to complete the order was reduced to as little as one third.