Article Review #1

Stephanie Glass
9/20/11
Article Review #1

Bojko, A. (2006). Using eye tracking to compare web designs: A case study. Journal of Usability Studies, 1 (3), 112-120.

Introduction
The purpose of the study was to assess the validity of redesigned elements of a webpage using evaluation activities including eye tracking. The article reflects my research interests in Usability and Design.
 
Problem Statement
The focus of the study was to evaluate and compare a proposed redesign of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Web site against the original design. The specific goals were to determine if the redesigned home page would make it easier for users to locate the proper starting point for their tasks, and to locate potential areas for improvement within the proposed design. The report emphasizes the effectiveness of eye tracking methodology to collect data on attention deployment and target processing.
 
Literature Review
The eye tracking study expands upon past perception and visual search research. “However, it has not yet established itself strongly as a method to study the screen-level search behavior that is a frequent component of human-computer interaction” (Bojko, 2006).  Therefore, this study expands upon the use of the eye movement methodology when detailed evaluation of visual search is required. It also supports the use of this technique in future usability research within the Technology field.
 
Method
The study tested twelve participants who were current ASCO members and were, on average, monthly users of the current website. To compensate for the unfamiliarity of the proposed site, users were given the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the new design prior to the commencement of the study. Participants used a mouse to indicate responses to a block of 25 tasks on both the current and proposed web site design.  The tasks were the same for each site and were presented in a random order. The web pages, tasks and other stimuli were displayed on a 17” monitor with 1024 x 768 px screen resolution. A Tobii 1750 eye tracker was used to record eye movements.
 
Caveats
I feel as though an increased number and a wider variety of test subjects should have been used for this study. Though ages ranged from 30 – 55, it doesn’t seem likely that study conductors were able to get a realistic representation of current website users. Only having twelve participants seems inadequate.

 I felt researchers could not accurately compare the efficiency of each design because participants were familiar with the current version of the web site. I speculate that the results would naturally favor the current, more familiar, design. I feel that this test should have been performed by users unfamiliar with either design or the tasks should have been comprised of new, unfamiliar information and locations.