Project

MouseTrack: A Web-Based Usability Tool

MouseTrack is a web logging system that tracks mouse movements on websites. The system includes a visualization tool that displays the mouse cursor path followed by website visitors. It helps web site administrators run usability tests and analyze the collected data. Practitioners can track any existing webpage by simply entering its URL. The visualization tool allowed inexperienced observers to concretely learn important user interface principles by observation. Future work includes fully validating the approach by correlating eye gaze with mouse tracks in multiple web environments. Our goal is to introduce this approach to web usability practitioners and obtain universally identifiable mouse patterns that could be automatically labeled to reveal useful information about site design and speed up the iterative design process.