South African Computer Journal (Jul 2018)

Semi-automated Usability Analysis through Eye Tracking

  • Katherine Mary Malan,
  • Jan H.P. Eloff,
  • Jhani A. de Bruin

DOI
https://doi.org/10.18489/sacj.v30i1.511
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 30, no. 1

Abstract

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Usability of software is a crucial aspect of successful applications and could give one application a competitive edge over another. Eye tracking is a popular approach to usability evaluation, but is time consuming and requires expert analysis. This paper proposes a semi-automated process for identifying usability problems in applications with a task-based focus, such as business applications, without the need for expert analysis. The approach is demonstrated on the eye tracking data from a mobile procurement application involving 33 participants. With the recent inclusion of built-in eye tracking hardware in mobile devices, the proposed approach introduces the possibility of conducting remote, large-scale usability studies for improving user experience in mobile applications.

Keywords