Insightful assessment: Screen-based eye tracking as user experience research

Purpose and Design: While a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods, such as surveys, interviews, and ethnographic observation, have been used to measure library performance for some time, new technologies have... [ view full abstract ]

Purpose and Design:

While a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods, such as surveys, interviews, and ethnographic observation, have been used to measure library performance for some time, new technologies have emerged that are expanding the range of data that can be collected about library users’ experiences. One such technology is eye tracking. Eye tracking devices use infrared sensors and high speed cameras to track and capture a users’ eye movements across a target object, for example a computer screen or mobile device. While earlier eye tracking technology was quite cumbersome and usually required the participant’s head to be restrained, recent developments have resulted in a range of robust yet lightweight eye tracking devices that can be used in a wider range of settings inside or outside of a lab. This has greatly expanded the range of possible research uses for eye tracking, including for measuring library performance. A recent literature review found that while the use of eye tracking methods in the broader field of library and information science has increased over the last ten years, it is still relatively rare, particularly in applied research within libraries (Lund, 2016).

Screen Based Eye Tracking:

One of the most common uses for eye tracking methods within library and information science is as part of usability testing of websites or other digital interfaces (Lund, 2016). For example, Kules and Capra (2012) were interested in whether training videos or contextual help links would be effective in helping students make better use of facets in a library catalog search. They combined eye tracking with a method called Retrospective Think-Aloud (RTA) to determine which parts of the search interface attracted users’ attention over the course of six different search tasks. RTA is similar to traditional think-aloud methods of usability testing, except that the participant’s narrative occurs during a replay of the eye tracking video. They found that while overall participants looked at the search results more than any other part of the interface, users who saw the training video did look at the facets section of the interface more than users who did not see the video. They also found that none of the participants noticed or used the contextual help link, which was confirmed through both the eye tracking results and an analysis of the server logs. Another library usability study used eye tracking as part of an examination of interlibrary loan options in a consortial OPAC (Jones, Pritting, & Morgan, 2014). In this case, eye tracking findings revealed how users read the results list, scanning the titles of records and generally ignoring thumbnails of book covers and subject headings. These are just two examples of the kinds of previously hidden data that eye tracking methods can uncover for libraries. In addition to studying search interfaces, screen based eye tracking can be used to study library tutorials, websites, and mobile apps and interfaces. 

This short paper will discuss how screen-based eye tracking technologies can be used to gain deeper insights about user experience and user behavior in an academic library.  I will combine findings from the literature with examples drawn from multiple eye tracking studies conducted at a large academic research library in the United States. I will outline the benefits of eye tracking as an innovative method, with an emphasis on the practical uses for measuring different aspects of library performance. I will also discuss some of the challenges for implementing eye tracking in libraries. I will conclude with an overview of the major eye tracking vendors and discuss some of the options for libraries of different sizes. 

Conclusions:

Eye tracking is a new technology that allows for innovative data collection in multiple library settings. By combining eye tracking with other research methods, such as usability studies, log analysis, or interviews, libraries have the potential to dramatically increase their understanding of a range of user behaviors in their physical spaces and across their digital interfaces. Eye tracking technologies provide deeper insights into previously hidden user behavior, and can illuminate alignments or conflicts with expressed user preferences.

References:

Jones III, W. E., Pritting, S., and Morgan, B. (2014) Understanding availability: usability testing of a consortial interlibrary loan catalog, Journal of Web Librarianship, 8(1), 69-87. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19322909.2014.872967.

Kules, B., and Capra, R. (2012) Influence of training and stage of search on gaze behavior in a library catalog faceted search interface, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 63(1), 114-138.

Lund, H. (2016) Eye tracking in library and information science: a literature review, Library Hi Tech, 34(4), 585-614. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-07-2016-0085.