Heat Map

A data visualization technique that uses colour intensity to represent the distribution and density of user attention or interaction on a page or interface. In eye tracking research, heat maps aggregate fixation data from multiple users, with warmer colours (red, orange) indicating areas that received the most fixations or longest gaze duration, and cooler colours (green, blue) representing less-attended areas. While heat maps are valuable for quickly identifying which parts of a web page attract the most visual attention, they do not capture the sequence in which users viewed elements — for that, scanpath analysis is needed. Heat maps are widely used in usability testing and accessibility evaluation to assess whether important content, navigation elements, or accessibility features are being noticed by users.