Eye tracking
Measure where and when eyes move
Eye tracking records gaze position and related eye movements during tasks such as reading, viewing interfaces or choosing products. Analyses may examine fixations, saccades, regressions and dwell times relative to predefined areas of interest. Eye movements provide temporally detailed behavioural evidence, but gaze is an imperfect proxy for attention and does not directly reveal comprehension or preference.
Choose when visual allocation or processing timing is central and equipment can be calibrated adequately. Define task, viewing conditions, outcome measures and an analysis plan before collecting gaze streams.
Strengths
- Fine temporal detail about visual behaviour
- Can compare interface or stimulus processing sequences
Limitations
- Calibration error and data loss distort measures
- Looking does not necessarily indicate understanding or liking
Know the boundary
Heatmaps alone do not test a hypothesis, and fixation location is not a direct readout of cognition.