Eye tracking is a high-tech research method that uses specialised hardware to record exactly where a person is looking while they interact with a digital product. By using infrared sensors to track the movement of a user's pupils, researchers can see which parts of a screen grab their attention and which parts are ignored entirely. This provides an objective look at visual behaviour that goes beyond what a person might say in an interview, as it captures subconscious reactions and scanning patterns that the user may not even be aware of themselves.
The data from these sessions is often presented as heatmaps or gaze plots. A heatmap uses colours to show which areas of a page received the most focus, with "hot" red areas indicating where the eyes lingered the longest. A gaze plot, on the other hand, shows the specific path the eyes took as they moved across the layout, including the order in which elements were viewed. These visualisations help designers understand if their visual hierarchy is working or if important information, like a "buy now" button or a crucial navigation link, is being overlooked because of distracting images or poor placement.
This method is particularly valuable for identifying "banner blindness" or determining if a layout is too cluttered for a user to find what they need quickly. It removes the guesswork from layout design by providing hard evidence of how a person’s attention is distributed. While it is a more resource-intensive method than simple observation, the insights it provides into the immediate, physical reaction of a user can lead to a much more efficient and polished interface.
