A review of
Eye Tracking the User Experience – A Practical Guide to Research
By Aga Bojko
Rosenfeld Media, 2013
I used to consider eye tracking a bit of magic and hearing the term conjured up images of heatmaps and gaze plots. Recently, I have learned more about the method by working with teams who run user experience studies involving eye tracking.
While I frequently conduct or oversee user testing sessions, I have not had to plan and run an eye tracking study. When I do, I’ll know where to turn: Aga Bojko’s excellent new book Eye Tracking the User Experience – A Practical Guide to Research.
Bojko is a user experience researcher who has been involved with eye tracking in both academic and commercial settings since 2000. She describes her book as: “containing everything you need to know to successfully conduct an eye tracking study and obtain useful information from it.” This is no exaggeration.
The audience for this book is the UX practitioner. Bojko is consistent in writing for her audience throughout and the text is full of practical tips on how to make your study run smoothly.
The book follows an outline that is easy to follow, especially by anyone familiar with UX research activities:
- Why Eye Tracking?
- Study Preparation
- Data Collection
- Analysis and Reporting
Part one sets the stage for the rest of the book by opening with the big question: why use eye tracking in the first place? Bojko writes: “Where you place your gaze is typically associated with what you pay attention to and think about.” To me this is one of the key benefits of eye tracking—it gives you another facility to capture actual user behavior that you can then dissect and learn from.
The first part of the book also describes how to decide if eye tracking is a suitable method for your study. Bojko stresses that the selection of methods should always be driven from the high-level study objectives and chosen only after the research questions have been specified, not before. Eye tracking will not be appropriate for all studies. It is great to see this clearly stated.
The remaining three parts of the book cover preparing, running, and reporting on your study in detail. Consider it the how-to guide for eye tracking.
The chapters are organized in a logical way and help you learn the ropes on first reading. They also serve as a great reference in the future. Each chapter begins with an overview of the material covered and ends with a handy summary of the key points.
Bojko’s writing style is measured and easy to read. It is clear that the user (reader) is considered all the way through in how the content is structured and labeled. The content is also well supported by tables, visualizations, and case studies. UX researchers should take heed of gems such as “Rules for Making Your Graphs Usable.” since these rules apply to virtually all UX reports.
One of the great things about the book is the consistent focus on actionable insights. In Bojko’s words: “Rather than just focusing on what eye tracking can tell you, you should ask yourself, ‘Why do I need to know this?’ or even better, ‘What type of decisions do I want to be able to make based on the study results?’” The commercial reality is that study findings need to provide direct value to clients, and this is well represented in this book.
This book makes eye tracking approachable and explains it in detail from both methodological and tool perspectives. In doing so, it also makes it clear that conducting a proper eye tracking study is a lot of work. There are many things to consider in planning, running, and analyzing a usability study, and eye tracking adds to the effort. It is therefore important to consider where eye tracking can add value and to be judicious in applying it.
A minor criticism about the book is that the writing could have been more entertaining and perhaps the author more assertive at times. While I think the instructions could be clearer, I also recognize that writing about UX is (almost) never black and white.
Overall, Eye Tracking the User Experience is a great book, not only for eye tracking beginners, but also for seasoned professionals. The beginners will learn how eye tracking is much more than just heatmaps and gaze plots. For the seasoned eye tracking professional, this book will make you think about why you do things the way you do. Both audiences will pick up invaluable practical tips for running eye tracking studies. Definitely a must-read book.
A review of
Eye Tracking the User Experience – A Practical Guide to Research
By Aga Bojko
Rosenfeld Media, 2013
本书深入浅出地介绍了眼动跟踪技术，并从方法论和工具的角度详细进行了解释。 本书行文风格严谨且易于阅读，并始终如一地围绕切实可行的见解展开论述。 对于持怀疑态度的人士而言，本书清晰地指出，眼动跟踪并不总是一种合适的方法，研究方法的选择应始终从高层面的研究目标出发，只有在确定了研究问题之后（而不是之前）才能进行选择。 正如该书的标题所述，书中包含大量实用技巧和指南，因此是一本必读书。
A review of
Eye Tracking the User Experience – A Practical Guide to Research
By Aga Bojko
Rosenfeld Media, 2013
이 책은 안구추적에 대한 이해를 돕고 방법적 관점과 도구 관점에서 자세하게 설명합니다. 이 책은 실행 가능한 통찰력을 가지고 본다면 읽기 쉽습니다. 의구심을 가진 사람들에게, 이 책은 안구추적이 언제나 적합한 것은 아니며 방법 선택은 언제나 고급 연구 목표에 의해서 이루어져야 하고, 연구 문제가 구체적으로 명시되기 전이 아니라 난 후에만 선택해야 한다는 것입니다. 제목이 말해주듯이, 내용은 실제적 정보와 안내로 채워져 있어 꼭 읽어야 할 책입니다.
A review of
Eye Tracking the User Experience – A Practical Guide to Research
By Aga Bojko
Rosenfeld Media, 2013
Este livro torna o rastreamento ocular acessível e o explica em detalhes a partir de perspectivas metodológicas e instrumentais. A redação é concisa e de fácil leitura, com um foco constante em ideias. Para os céticos, este livro deixa claro que o rastreamento ocular nem sempre é adequado e que a seleção de métodos deve sempre ser conduzida a partir dos objetivos de estudo de alto nível e estes devem ser escolhidos somente após as perguntas da pesquisa terem sido especificadas, e não antes. O livro é, como diz o título, cheio de dicas práticas e orientações, tornando-se uma leitura obrigatória.
O artigo completo está disponível somente em inglês.
A review of
Eye Tracking the User Experience – A Practical Guide to Research
By Aga Bojko
Rosenfeld Media, 2013
アイトラッキングを利用可能なものにしてくれるのがこの本で、方法論や使用するツールの視点からもアイトラッキングが詳しく説明されている。整然とした文体の本書は読みやすく、一貫して実践可能な洞察を提供することに焦点を置いている。懐疑的な方のために、アイトラッキングは必ずしも適切な調査法ではなく、調査方法の選択は常に「高次元の研究目的」を基に行われ、「リサーチクエスチョン」が特定されてから選択されるべきで、その前には行うべきではないと明確に述べられていることを加えておく。タイトルが示すように実践的なヒントやガイドが満載された本書をぜひ読んでいただきたい。
A review of
Eye Tracking the User Experience – A Practical Guide to Research
By Aga Bojko
Rosenfeld Media, 2013
Este libro hace accesible el seguimiento ocular y lo explica en detalle, tanto desde la perspectiva metodológica como desde la de las herramientas. La redacción es moderada y de fácil lectura, y presenta un enfoque consistente en información práctica. Para los escépticos, este libro aclara que el seguimiento ocular no siempre es adecuado y que la selección de los métodos siempre debe estar impulsada por los objetivos de alto nivel del estudio y que se deben seleccionar solo después de que se hayan especificado las preguntas de la investigación y no antes. Como el título lo indica, está lleno de consejos prácticos y orientación, lo que lo hace una obra de lectura obligatoria.
La versión completa de este artículo está sólo disponible en inglés
