A New Focus on End Users: Eye-Tracking Analysis for Digital Libraries

Eye-tracking data was gathered as part of a user and functional evaluation of the Europeana v1.0 prototype, to determine which areas of the interface screen are most heavily used and which areas attract users’ attention but are not effectively used in search. Outputs from eye-tracking data can offer insight into how advanced search functions can be made more intuitive for end users with differing interests and abilities, and can be used to inform continued interface development as digital libraries look to the future. Results led to recommendations for the future development of the Europeana digital library.