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Participate in an Eyetools study

Web Eyetracking Study

For who: Participants Age 20-60

Date: Wednesday (2/04/09) through Friday (2/20/09)

Duration: approximately 1 hour, starting on the hour
(you will need to arrive 10 minutes early to fill out some paper-work)

Location: Near the intersection of Howard and New Montgomery, Downtown San Francisco
(two blocks from BART and hourly parking -- exact location and directions will be emailed to you)

Time required to fill out this form: about 2 minutes

Payment: None, this is a volunteer study

Thank you for your interest in participating in an Eyetools eyetracking study.

Please fill out the form below if you'd like to be considered for participation in our upcoming eyetracking study. We will contact you directly to schedule a time if you are selected for this study.

Note: We will send you no other notifications or solicitations unless you indicate that you would like to receive them. We will not spam you or sell your information to spammers!

If selected for this study, you will be asked to review and sign a consent form (included at the bottom of this page) when you come into our facility. The form will explain what is involved and what you can expect from a study such as this. The content of the form appears below at the bottom of the page. If you are interested in learning more about the study before filling out this form, please scroll to the bottom of the page to review what is involved.

If you have friends who might also like to participate in this or future studies, please feel free to forward to them this URL and encourage them to sign up.

We have one caveat, for people who have epileptic seizures. Eyetracking is a technique of measuring reflections of NON-VISIBLE infrared light from a person's eyes to determine where they are looking. The technology is safe and has been used for decades. While there may no connection, we know that flashing, VISIBLE light (like strobe lights) can trigger people with epilepsy to have a seizure. We have never encountered any problem in our tracking thousands of people, but we like to be on the safe side. If you have any reason to suspect that you might have epileptic tendencies, we encourage you to abstain from eyetracking trials until further notice. Please read the form at the bottom of this page for more information.

"The Short Version": If you answer "yes" to any of these 5 questions, then due to the limitations of eye tracking hardware you will not be eligible for participation in this eyetracking study. (Sorry! It does the best it can.)
  1. Do you wear hard contacts (most contacts are "soft contacts")?
  2. In order to see the screen clearly to read, do you have to tip your head back more than is "typical" (for example, in order to look through special glasses)?
  3. Do you have to sit closer to the computer screen than is typical in order to see the screen clearly (for example, in order to compensate for not wearing computer glasses)?
  4. Do you have a "lazy" or "wandering" eye, a special condition where your two eyes do not necessarily move in unison?
  5. Do your eyes sometimes move side-to-side uncontrollably, or tremor?
If you answered "yes" to *any* of these 5 questions, then please stop now because you are not eligible for participation in this study. (We're sorry! The equipment just cannot handle these 5 situations.)

Still with us? Great. Here's the form.

Note: There are no right or wrong answers. Different studies seek participants of different demographic descriptions. If you would like to be considered for future studies, filling in these fields accurately will allow us to contact you directly when studies arise that seek participants of your demographic profile.

First Name?

* Why we ask this - you will be paid by check.

When working on a computer, what type of eye wear or glasses do you use? (our eyetrackers can handle most types of contacts and glasses)

None (I never use glasses, and I don't wear contacts)

I tilt my head back when I surf the web to see clearly.
I lean in close to the screen when I surf the web to read clearly.
Contacts:
Soft Contacts
Hard Contacts
Glasses:
Reading glasses (or glasses that have a narrow profile which are much wider than they are high)
Single Pane Glasses
Bifocal Glasses
Trifocal Glasses

Have you had eye surgery in the past?

Yes
No

If so, what type of surgery?

Do you have a "lazy" or "wandering" eye?

Yes
No

Is there anything "different" or "not typical" about your eyes?

Yes
No

If so, how are they "different" or "not typical"?

(The eye tracking equipment can deal with most "typical" eyes, but it's just a piece of hardware so it can't deal with everyone's eyes. We know what it can and cannot deal with, so if you just tell us here we can potentially save you a trip if we know that it won't be able to track your eyes.)

When was the last time that you participated in an eyetracking study?


never
a few days ago
1 week
2 weeks
1 month
2 months
3-6 months
this year
last year

Do you use a cell phone?


yes
no

If you do use a cell phone, which of the following functions do you use in addition to making calls? (check all that apply)


email
web browsing
text messaging
camera
planner

How many magazines have you purchased from a store or newsstand in the last 3 months?


none
1
between 2 and 4
5+

If any, which of the following websites do you read atleast 3 times a month?


SfGate.com
Huffingtonpost.com
Marthastewart.com
ESPN.com
NewYorkTimes.com
Yahoo.com
None of these

When you do read the news, which of these topics do you find most interesting? (pick no more the four)


Travel
Science
Business
Politics
Entertainment
Sports
none of these

Of the following activities, which two, best describe your interests?


Hiking
Basketball
Baseball
Yoga
Cooking
Golf
Reading
Computer Games
None of the above

How often do you use the Internet (select one)?

More than 8 hours a day
Between 1 - 8 hours a day
Less than an hour a day
Couple times a week
Once a week
Couple times a month
Once a month
Less than once a month

How fast is your internet connection

at work (select one)?
None
Dialup (really slow)
DSL (fast)
Cable (fast)
T1 or faster (really fast) 		at home (select one)?
None
Dialup (really slow)
DSL (fast)
Cable (fast)
T1 or faster (really fast)

What activities do you most frequently do while online? (i.e. email, read news, games, shopping, etc.)

In what industry do you work?

What is your Occupation? (i.e. administrator, web designer, sales person, home maker, executive, usability, engineer, retired, unemployed, etc.)
NOTE: if you are current unemployed enter "unemployed(AAA)" but replace "AAA" with whatever job you had in the last 6 months. If you had no job within the last 6 months then replace "AAA" with "none".

What is your Gender

Male
Female

Highest level of education?

No Diploma
High School Graduate
Associates Degree
College Degree
Graduate Degree

Age?

Annual household income?

Less than $25,000
$25,000-$39,999
$40,000-$74,999
$75,000-$99,999
$100,000-$249,999
$250,000-$349,999
$350,000-$499,999
Greater than $500,000

Would you like to be considered for future Eyetools studies in addition to this one? We frequently run eyetracking studies and are always in need of participants. Would you like to be contacted directly via email when we are recruiting participants for future studies?

Yes
No

E-mail address?

* Why we ask this - we need to be able to contact you to schedule a time.
Check your email for one titled "Eyetools Research" — emails for scheduling each day are typically sent out daily at noon and at 4pm to schedule for the following day.

Best Contact Phone Number?

* Why we ask this - if selected, we may need to call you to clarify recruiting information or on the day of the study to coordinate logistics. Also, we typically call to schedule people around 3pm and/or 8pm for scheduling the following day.

On the day of the study: you will need to arrive 10 minutes early in order to fill out paper work in order to be paid (i.e. for the 8 a.m. time-slot, you need to arrive at 7:50 a.m.). Please do not be late, and call if you will be late or need to reschedule!

Congratulations! As soon as you submit this form, you'll be done!

Thank you!

If you would like to preview the consent form that you'll be asked to sign on the day of the study before clicking "Submit", it appears at the bottom of this page.

If you are satisfied with all your entries, please click the "Submit" button now.

If you have been selected for the upcoming study, we will contact you directly via email or phone to arrange details. Due to the large volume of sign-ups, we will not be able to respond to everyone.

Thank you again for your interest.

- Eyetools Recruiting

The Consent Form

The consent form you will be asked to sign on the day of the study will read like the following memo:

You have been invited to participate in a research study that is intended to first observe and record how people interact with the World Wide Web (the Web) and then will ask some related questions. The recording will be made by an eye-tracking device that uses a small infrared camera to record the movements of your eyes.

Although we are recording your eye movements on the computer screen, you will not be identified in any way other than by a code number and by demographic information such as age, gender, and work classification. For example "subject 14 is a white female, age 47, lawyer."

We can foresee no risks associated with this study. The method used to measure where your eyes are looking on the computer screen is believed to be safe and has been in use for decades.

If at any time you become uncomfortable, please notify us and we will pause or stop the study. If at any time you feel uncomfortable for any reason, before the study or during, please notify the moderator and excuse yourself from this trial without penalty. Individuals with a known history of epileptic seizures are advised to abstain from eye tracking trials.

The benefits that reasonably may be expected to result from this research are more user-friendly presentation of websites. Apart from that, there will be no other direct benefit to you. If an incentive payment was promised for this study, you will be paid that amount.

Your participation in this observational research study should take approximately the amount of time advertised when you were initially contacted to participate in this study.

Please do not input any personal passwords or private security information during the study. Thank you.

If you have read this form and have decided to participate in this project, please understand that your participation is voluntary and you have the right to discontinue participation at any time without penalty. You also have the right to refuse to answer particular questions.

By participating in this study, you release all claim to the data generated during your session. Your identity will not be disclosed and will remain confidential in all published and written data resulting from this study.