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Horizontal Mouse Movements (HMMs) on Web Pages as Indicators of User Interest

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HCI International 2020 – Late Breaking Posters (HCII 2020)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 1293))

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Abstract

Mouse events are widely used as implicit indicators of user attention on web pages. In this study, we investigated a particular pattern of mouse movements, Horizontal Mouse Movements (HMMs), consisting of series of mouse move events in the same horizontal direction, as indicators of users’ current interest. We formally defined HMMs and analyzed HMM activity on a sample website in English. We distinguished between LTR (Left to Right) HMMs and RTL (Right to Left) HMMs. LTR HMMs (in the reading direction of the sample website) were found to be more frequent than RTL HMMs (in the opposite direction). Then we investigated leaving web pages immediately after HMMs and found that they are much more frequent after an RTL HMM than after an LTR HMM. The difference can be explained by recent studies, which show that mouse movements in the reading direction are related to reading. Because reading indicates current interest in the web page content, the probability of leaving a web page immediately after LTR HMMs is lower. Accordingly, HMMs in the reading direction may serve as user interest indicators in educational technology, online learning, web analytics, and adaptive websites.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    www.objectdb.com, providing technical learning materials for programmers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Ilan Kirsh

  2. University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

    Mike Joy

  3. The Open University of Israel, Ra’anana, Israel

    Yoram Kirsh

Authors
  1. Ilan Kirsh
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  2. Mike Joy
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  3. Yoram Kirsh
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Correspondence to Ilan Kirsh .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Crete and Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    Constantine Stephanidis

  2. Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    Margherita Antona

  3. Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    Stavroula Ntoa

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Kirsh, I., Joy, M., Kirsh, Y. (2020). Horizontal Mouse Movements (HMMs) on Web Pages as Indicators of User Interest. In: Stephanidis, C., Antona, M., Ntoa, S. (eds) HCI International 2020 – Late Breaking Posters. HCII 2020. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1293. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60700-5_53

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60700-5_53

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-60699-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-60700-5

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