Image composition influences on the mood board visual reading process through eye-tracking

Abstract

Mood Boards (MB) are a visual tool used to provide references for inspiration and decision-making in the design development process. However, it isn't easy to obtain objective and precise measures about the MB organization if exclusively qualitative approaches identify how the image composition can affect the visual reading process. In this sense, this study aimed to evaluate how the position and physical image aspects influence an attentive MB visual reading. The results presented that variations in image contrast and positioning influence the observer's visual reading. Besides, the observers' identified tendencies were to concentrate the visualisations in the boards' central, lower and left areas, indicating the importance of this region's MB construction. Moreover, the results evidence that the visual reading of an MB presents a different pattern from those reported by studies directed to analysing the visual reading of websites. Thus, changes in image positioning influenced the viewer's perception, being a relevant point to be considered when assembling the MB's image composition. The results of this study contribute to creating criteria for the MB construction process.