Mondrian : a tool for mapping mouse interaction on websites for the analysis of web interface graphic design

Abstract

This project is about the creation and testing of a system that can graphically plot the motion, direction, speed and resting time of an input device as it traces its way across the web page, to track the mouse movement of the user. The image generated is then saved to a database on the server, together with other information on the browser and the OS, once the user leaves the page. The user-generated tracking representations of the same page can then be superimposed onto the page in the viewer web application to find movement patterns and densities of user interaction within areas of the page. The system is designed in such a way that it can be added to the background of most existing websites, without major changes to the websites themselves, in order to capture user motion data on a large scale. Web developers can use this tool to analyse the users' interaction with their web pages and help them improve the usability of web pages. In order to achieve this, standard W3C browser technologies and capabilities were used, and 3rd party plug-ins avoided.