Eye Movement Across a Web Site

Check out this article from VirtualHosting.com - its a great resource titled "Scientific Web Design: 23 Actionable Lessons from Eye-Tracking Studies" about how visitors view sites, and makes a fairly complex topic simple in terms of things you can do to maximise performance of your own site. We've listed them below, but go and read the post to get the full picture.

1. Text attracts attention before graphics. Contrary to what you might think, the first thing users look at on a website isn’t the images.
2. Initial eye movement focuses on the upper left corner of the page.
3. Users initially look at the top left and upper portion of the page before moving down and to the right.
4. Readers ignore banners. Surprise?
5. Fancy formatting and fonts are ignored.
6. People generally scan lower portions of the page.
7. Shorter paragraphs perform better than long ones.
8. One-column formats perform better in eye-fixation than multi-column formats.
9. Ads in the top and left portions of a page will receive the most eye fixation.
10. Ads placed next to the best content are seen more often.
11. Text ads were viewed mostly intently of all types tested.
12. Bigger images get more attention.
13. Headings draw the eye.
14. Users spend a lot of time looking at buttons and menus.
15. Lists hold reader attention longer.
16. Large blocks of text are avoided.
17. White space is good.
18. Navigation tools work better when placed at the top of the page.

Many of them are obvious, but its nice seeing the traditional view path 'heat map' translated into an actionable list.

Digital Trends for 2008

Always following the festive season is the rush of hit predictions for the coming year. This one from Advertising Age's Digital publication, by renowned digital industry commentator Steve Rubel. Read it here and at http://adage.com/article.php?article_id=122886

Three Trends That Will Shape Digital in 2008
The Big Picture: Customers, Consumers and Content
By Steve Rubel

Published: January 07, 2008

The new year is when people like to make predictions. However, I find it more valuable to look at the bigger picture -- the trends that will play a role in shaping digital media and marketing over the next 12 months.



MEDIA-ADVERTISER COOPETITION
Conventional wisdom says never compete with your biggest customers. But that's exactly what's happening in the ever-changing dynamic between advertisers and media partners. Thanks to the web, brands are becoming their own media companies, vying for the same constricting field of attention the media long have dominated. This will force the media giants to increasingly become launch pads for advertiser-created content even as they carefully navigate the resulting Chinese-wall issues.


LIVING ROOM 2.0
For many, the living room is no longer the hub of a household. We spend more time today in front of computers tucked away in bedrooms and home offices than we do gathered around a single TV. That said, the living room is slowly undergoing a revival as consumers buy HDTVs. Early adopters are adding Windows Media Center PCs or Mac Minis to their home theaters so they can view photos in glorious hi-def.

Mainstream consumers are not there yet. However, they will join the geeks as the technology gets easier to use and connectivity finds its way into existing devices, including TV, digital cable boxes, TiVo, Xbox 360 and Wii. All of this will make the living room a place where families gather again, particularly as TVs connect to social networks.


CURATORS COLLECT AND CONNECT
During the past 10 years, content has become a commodity. So has data. Information overload makes it difficult for anyone to separate essential air from smog. Search engines don't really help -- it's hard even for them to separate gems from junk.

Enter curators. Brands, media and consumers who relish information will prosper by aggregating mountains of information and distilling those down to their most essential parts.