Eye Movement and Reaction Time Are Both Important in Assessment of Dialog Box Usability

Traditional usability metrics (accuracy and reaction time) were combined with eye movement patterns to study button placement and highlighting in dialog boxes. Participants made buttonclick responses based on the contents of the dialog box text. Traditional measures and eye movement patterns yielded different results: Reaction time analyses suggested placing the correct button to the left; eye movement patterns suggested placing the correct button on the right. This study demonstrated that eye movements are a rich source of information for usability research, provided theoretical guidelines for future research, and showed the strengths and weaknesses of eye tracking in comparison to more traditional usability metrics. In addition, it provided empirical support for eye movement heuristics that are often implemented in visual interface design, showing that the search patterns for dialog boxes follow a reading pattern.