Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate Web-visitors' viewing behavior by using eye-tracking data while they are evaluating usability of a Web page. Users' eye-scanning strategies were analyzed in terms of user experience, Web-site categories, and function and location of Web-page components. Two Web user groups, eight heavy users and eight light users, were asked to browse and evaluate a total of eighteen Web pages from three Web-site categories, portal, news, and corporation. It was assumed that the participants would exhibit either content-based Web page viewing behavior, characterized by the manner or function of viewing areas, i. e., contents, navigation, and advertisement, or location-based Web page viewing behavior, characterized by the absolute location of viewing areas, i. e., left, middle, and right. The total number of fixations for each area was measured. The results demonstrate that the users adopted a function-based viewing strategy when the site purpose was obvious, otherwise they adopted a location-based viewing strategy.
