Eye tracking: A worthwhile investment or an unnecessary expense?

Eye tracking, once considered a niche and costly technology, has become more accessible and is now utilized in various fields such as virtual reality, gaming, sports analysis, and automotive safety. In UX research, eye tracking can provide valuable insights by recording eye movements to determine where users focus on a screen, how long they look at certain elements, and what they may overlook. This data can help refine user interfaces by highlighting visual hierarchy issues, optimizing call-to-action placements, and evaluating content readability. Despite its advantages, eye tracking has limitations, such as difficulty capturing peripheral vision and determining the emotional context of visual attention. It is best used alongside other research methods to obtain a comprehensive understanding of user behavior. While alternatives like mouse tracking and digit-tracking can offer general insights, technological advancements, especially in mobile phone cameras, may further reduce the cost of eye tracking in the future.