Affordable eye tracking for informed web design

Abstract

Eye tracking hardware and software can be used to analyze and improve websites. If conducting an eye tracking study is too costly, examining mouse movement data can also provide similar insights into user behavior as eye gaze data. Prior research has shown eye gaze and mouse cursor position can strongly correlate. The strength of the correlation, however, depends on the design of the website. It is important to determine if mouse tracking is a reliable substitute for eye tracking as new design patterns emerge. Today, there are low-cost eye tracking solutions available, enabling a wider audience to conduct their own eye-mouse correlation studies. In this paper, we use The Eye Tribe Eye Tracker and the analysis software, EyeProof, to find the relationship between eye gaze and mouse position on the Florida Institute of Technology Human-Centered Design Institute website. The results indicate that mouse tracking data may be a suitable substitute for eye tracking data on the studied website and it may be feasible to use consumer-grade eye tracking products to conduct similar assessments.