Visual Attention in Newspaper versus TV-Oriented News Websites
William J. Gibbs and Ronan S. Bernas
Journal of Usability Studies, Volume 4, Issue 4, Aug 2009, pp. 147-165
Abstract
Eye-tracking has been employed in usability engineering for many years because, among other things, it affords usability practitioners information about where users focus their attention. It helps practitioners identify the extent to which the visual display elements presented on many interactive products enhance or detract from the user experience. Eye movement data offer system developers and usability engineers information about visual attention, visual search efficiency, and visual information processing while users interact with a system.
In this study, we tracked participants’ eye movements as they viewed newspaper and TV-oriented news Websites. We used several visual attention measures (number of fixations, fixation duration, gaze time, and saccade rate) and scan path analysis to investigate whether ocular behavior differed by type of news site.
We found that newspaper and TV-oriented site types did not influence measures of visual attention. However, the areas where participants fixated differed by site type. In addition, there was greater across-user variability in the viewing of newspaper homepages compared to TV homepages. Finally, we report on the utility of examining visual attention using scan path analysis and string-editing methods. These methods were especially useful for identifying fixation areas as well as variability in participants’ scan paths.
Practitioner’s Take Away
The following were the main findings of the study:
- There was greater across-user variability in the viewing of newspaper homepages compared to TV-oriented homepages.
- Possibly because newsprint homepage layouts resembled newspapers and employed headlines as primary navigation to news stories instead of text link groupings, visual traces were less concentrated and less efficient.
- Text link groupings and content directed visual attention. Text link groupings should be placed consistently across sites.
- Visual traces showed that news story text links in the body of the page captured visual attention and served as a central point of regard.
- Newspaper sites may reduce variability in visual attention by grouping links consistently in upper regions of the page.
- Participants initially focused attention in the upper regions of the page and then moved to the page body. The upper regions of the page appeared to serve an orienting function and as navigational cues.
- Initial fixations occurred in the browser bar and in the site branding areas. To support a more efficient information search, place link groupings directly below these areas.
- String-editing and OMA provided data about fixated areas of the display. They were useful methods for identify areas of fixation in a display as well as scan path variance within and across users.
- Eye-tracking provides a valuable tool by itself or in conjunction with other usability methods to help usability practitioners examine users’ visual attention allocation and search efficiency when using interactive systems.
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Visual Attention in Newspaper versus TV-Oriented News Websites