by eubie

Eyetrack III notes

The Eyetrack III study released today has lots of interesting findings at quick summary of the results is here.

The study tracked eye movements of 46 persons as they scanned web pages from 20 major news organizations.

Summary of findings:

* the upper left of a web page draws the most eye time
* dominant headlines draw
* smaller type encourages reading the words; larger type encourages scanning
* readers spend more time on front pages with blurbs than with headlines alone, but don’t click anymore than front pages with only headlines
* on homepages navigation on top is viewed more than if placed on left or right of page
* on story pages left navigation is viewed most, but right navigation also works almost ast well
* front pages with blurbblurbs underlined headlines discourages reading of blurbs underneath the headline
* if readers are not engaged by the first third of a blurb, they move on
* a headline has less than a second of a site visitor’s attention
* shorter paragraphs viewed more than longer ones
* larger images hold eyes longer than smaller ones
* clean, clear faces attract more viewing
* more faces draw more viewers
* people click on photos even though it’s not obvious it is a link
* on compact home pages, navigation is used more and advertising is viewed more, if placed effectively
* for ads, text ads read better than other types
* bigger ads viewed more
* ads in top and left positions viewed most.

by eubie

More free time for kids, middle class squeezed

The Christian Science Monitor from Sept. 8:

* Quick! Is Johnny signed up for daydreaming?. “(A) grass-roots revolt is brewing. Some educators and coaches are speaking out against overscheduling, even as more families sending their kids back to school this fall are finding the courage to turn down teams and tournaments, to limit activities to a few favorites so that they can rediscover time to be a family.”

* Salary squeeze threatens middle America: By some measures, fewer people are managing to stay in the middle class. “(R)ecent Census data confirm that the median household income – a level where half of US households earn more and half less – has fallen by $1,500 between 2000 and 2003.”

by eubie

More hybrids coming, hydrogen fuel developments

Wired — Why Hybrids Are Hot: Have you seen gas prices? Purists can wait for hydrogen. The market can’t. “Industry forecasts suggest that by 2008, 2 percent of new cars sold in the US will be hybrids.”

Also from Consumer Reports: Down the road: Hybrid and diesel vehicles and Wired News: Hydrogen Fuel Closer to Fruition, which looks at technology developments that may lower the cost of producing hydrogen fuel.