These 20 Eye-Tracking Heat Maps Tell Us What People Really See

Coming up with attention-grabbing advertisements or intriguing interfaces may seem to be enough, but as these heat maps show, we all tend to focus on specific things when viewing something.

Do we tend to look at the faces in ads or the actual product being shown? And how do most of us read social media or news site homepages?

Take a look at these 20 eye-tracking heat maps to see how audiences view popular advertisements and media online.

1. Too much information can be distracting. When it comes to news, less may in fact be more!

2. While grocery shopping, most us are focused on the prices first.

3. Often, the model’s face can actually attract as much attention as the product.

4. When watching football, many of us are keeping our eyes on the ball intensely.

5. On Google, the top five search results get all the attention.

6. Meanwhile, photos tend to attract the most attention on Facebook.

7. Surprisingly, most people chose to read rather than examine this Porsche here.

8. Just left of the centre of a sign is apparently the best place for a product display.

9. When gazing upon The Last Supper, most people look at the faces, but some tend to take a peak at the gap between heads.

10. Although this is an add for jewelery, more people focused on the faces.

11. There are some clear differences between how men and women view advertisements.

12. His beard may be spectacular, but most people still focused on his face.

13. Smartwater gets the attention, but so does his shoulder apparently.

14. However, Scarlett Johansson is far too distracting in this Dolce & Gabbana ad.

15. Not only is the face important, but so is where the model looks.

16. Apparently the end of The Strip in Las Vegas is the most visually appealing.

17. When it comes to billboards, people appear to read the text rather than look at the gigantic faces displayed.

18. Banner Blindness is real!

19. While reading your resume, potential employers primarily read your name, past positions and education.

20. People do read the labels, but only after inspecting the meat.

Featured photo credit: Heat Map – Gyms in Washington DC 51193 via flickr.com