Eye tracking rules
(some of which are made to be broken).
Tim points us to a terrific summary of lessons learned from eye tracking studies.
The highlights, in alphabetical order:
- Ads in the top and left portions of a page will receive the most eye fixation.
- Ads placed next to the best content are seen more often.
- Bigger images get more attention.
- Clean, clear faces in images attract more eye fixation.
- Fancy formatting and fonts are ignored.
- Formatting can draw attention.
- Headings draw the eye.
- Initial eye movement focuses on the upper left corner of the page.
- Large blocks of text are avoided.
- Lists hold reader attention longer.
- Navigation tools work better when placed at the top of the page.
- One-column formats perform better in eye-fixation than multi-column formats.
- People generally scan lower portions of the page.
- Readers ignore banners.
- Shorter paragraphs perform better than long ones.
- Show numbers as numerals.
- Text ads were viewed mostly intently of all types tested.
- Text attracts attention before graphics.
- Type size influences viewing behavior.
- Users initially look at the top left and upper portion of the page before moving down and to the right.
- Users only look at a sub headline if it interests them.
- Users spend a lot of time looking at buttons and menus.
- White space is good.