In advertising and when designing websites, lots of research goes into determining exactly how to place specific items onto the page, photo, advertisement in order to determine the best layout.
Stores do this physically, by putting high-demand items (such as milk or perishables) towards the back of the store. Walt Disney did this when he decided that his new theme park needed a “weenie” in the center of the park to act as a magnet, ultimately drawing visitors towards the Castle that’s become a centerpiece of each of the Disney parks to date.
So while it’s easy to determine traffic patterns when people are walking around, how to businesses determine what makes a good print or online layout?
Eyetracking Web Usability
by Jakob Nielsen
It’s easy – they commission an EYE TRACKING STUDY, such as the ones run by THINK EYE TRACKING or others.
They use fancy equipment to monitor exactly where their subjects’ eyes are looking at a particular item, ultimately generating a “heat map” to indicate those places where people’s gaze tended to linger a bit longer.
The longer the gaze, the more highlights the eye tracking software will apply to the final analysis.
So what are some of the things that we’ve learned about how MEN AND WOMEN LOOK AT SEXY MODELS DIFFERENTLY?
- When men look at a photo of sexy man in bikini swimwear, they concentrate on the main torso, hairline… and the model’s package. Their junk. The frank and beans.
- When women look at the same image of a sexy man, they also look at the model’s torso… but they also took a long look at the man’s left hand – most likely to see if he was married or not.
Compare this to the same group of people who looked at a sexy bikini model:
- The men concentrated, no surprise, on the face, boobs, and bikini line, with nary a glimpse at any other aspect of the photo
- Women looked primarly at the face and boobs, but only a casual glance elsewhere.
And it really didn’t matter if the subject was a sexy model in a bathing suit, or something even less attractive – like a baseball player at bat. Men definitely checked out the player’s head and junk, while women only looked at the player’s head.
Are things a bit different when LOOKING AT A PHOTO OF A HALF-NAKED WOMAN?
Not so much.
Men still focused on the three primary areas: face, butt, shoes (it was a shoe ad – just go with it). But they spent significantly less time looking at the shoes than the women did. In other words, women liked to look at the shoes more. The study did show that women tended to look at the model’s torso before looking at the model’s face. For men, it was the face first.