Using eye-tracking to test and improve website design

Abstract

In developing a website, it is essential to test its design. For example, users may look at a certain image or text paragraph without paying attention to what designers may consider being the most essential information or the users may erroneously interpret its design and get confused. If users don't interact with the website as designers anticipate, the design of website becomes dubious. In our eye-tracking study we invited 11 undergraduate students from an introductory chemistry course to test the usability of newly developed website on climate change. The results show that animated features draw more attention regardless of strength of relationship to content. Based on quantitative and qualitative data, we present possible recommendations how to improve the design of the website and how to enhance user's overall experience. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.