May 23, 2006 | Richard Bird | 1 Comments
The Train Wreck Effect™
This was the very first R.BIRD post on About Design:
And the concept rears its ugly head again:
Is this unexpected from Jakob Nielsen?
Eye tracking is an old idea, since its inception was decades before. It’s a new idea, since this is the first time I’ve heard of the technology applied to the web page, rather than the ad page or the consumer shopping environment.
I must say that I find the “F” pattern quite fascinating. Yet, this will deserve more thought.
A word of warning to Jakob and friends:
Some of R.BIRD’s most creative, emotional and positively engaging brand expressions have fallen victim to the worst of metrics.
Think about it. As you are driving down any highway, what captures your immediate, transfixed gaze more powerfully: the flora and fauna on one side or the grisly, mangled flesh and metal on the opposite side? It’s no question which of these ideas would score more highly in an eye-tracking test.
I affectionately call this the “train wreck effect.” (Note the TM!)
It can happen to you.
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Richard Bird | Sep 8, 2006
There’s a new website visitor-tracking solution we’ve noticed, called crazyegg . One of their features is something they call the “heatmap.” Look familiar?
Jumping off from my original comments above, it’s hard to say whether web-clicking heatmaps are the result of the same kind of thinking as eye-tracking heatmaps.
Eye-tracking is purely instinctive in its measures. It’s like the scary movie scene that you can’t keep your eyes off of even though you are covering your face with both hands.
Click-tracking on the other hand is a bit more tricky. First instincts are probably emotional, but resisted… waiting for logical validation before clicking. Thus, a bit more analytical.
Nonetheless, I’m going to set this thing up on some of our own pages and see what happens!