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22 Comments
- subtleGradient, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10The big difference between CrazyEgg and "other Heatmap apps" is that CE tracks things on an element level and then matches up the elements again in the reports. So it doesn't matter if your users all use different font sizes and window sizes and screen resolutions or if you use a liquid layout or even rearrange some elements while your CrazyEgg test is running. CE just doesn't care.
All those other ones that try to do Heatmaps always track clicks on a page basis, which means that if users have even slightly different font settings, window sizes, etc... it makes your data totally meaningless since they can't match those clicks back up to the elements that got clicked.
I know that seems like really basic and necessary functionality, but those "other guys" take the easy way out and then add all these other random features to compensate for the fact that their data is total carp. - OverloadUT, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Direct link to the pricing page for CrazyEgg for those that are curious:
https://crazyegg.com/pay/plans
There is a free version that tracks up to 4 pages, 5000 visits per month. Not bad if you just want to use it on a personal page for curiosity. - jcdickerson, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6This looks like a good tool but, being a usability analyst myself, you have to question the methodology as well as the site/system. Quantifiable data is great if it is serving specific test goals - the challenge is in defining the goal correctly. Time-on-task or heat maps is useful - sometimes. But there's a lot that goes into the mix... The link to Nielsen is nice, but also keep in mind a lot of usability pros I know HATE him and some of his methods...
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5WOW! I just signed up, tested script on 2 sites and the results are instant. best of all its free.
- Blabster, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Pardon the comment abuse but in case your are looking for the poor boy alternative to crazyegg :
http://digg.com/programming/Get_awesome_looking_traffic_heatmaps_for_your_site_FREE - wranlon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3My behavior monitor - http://www.imnmotion.com - the results of which I admit are not as easy to digest as CrazyEgg's - does compost data on an element level, and includes a lot more information than Crazy Egg. I'm just missing the screenshots and dynamic tie-in to the page. However, all of the data is there. I just took a different tact by spending more time on the device pointer behavior than integrating the data back into the Web page for display. More Info: http://www.imnmotion.com/blog.jsp?record_name=Identifying+Behavior+by+Content+Type
- munit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I enjoyed the write-up and signed up myself. Should be some useful info attained
- motionblur, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"also keep in mind a lot of usability pros I know HATE him and some of his methods"
The real question is why? Is it his usability teachings or a criticism of his business practices and website's lack of design? From any critiques of Neilsen I've read, they mostly attack his business practices and website non-design. His usability teachings are very valuable, even if they only cover engineering aspects of usability.
If you want great design usability, don't go to Neilsen, because he admittedly does not specialize in it. Instead, check out Dan Cederholm or Jeffrey Zeldman, among others.
The best method is to combine the teachings of Neilsen, Cederholm and Zeldman into your skill set. - aguynamedben, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2been done before. old news.
- wranlon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Does that take into account browser window size, font size, screen resolution or liquid layout adjustments?"
The particular report you referenced adjusts for window size and document size. Since this report isn't showing interaction events, then font size and document flow adjustments aren't considered. Other reports that do show interactions do adjust for element size. Font size isn't considered, only the parent element dimensions and location. Elements are identified by given id or name, or by an assigned identifier, so as to show how they flow within the document. Unfortunately, this approach is very esoteric without a screenshot or other form of content mapping (eg: http://www.imnmotion.com/reference/2006/02/20/scopeIt.html ) - cresswga, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Well I just added the code to one of my sites to track a few pages but I found that under IE the cookie gets blocked with Medium High security settings. Firefox doesnt seem to care though.
- erpscooter, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I disagree with a few of his usability teachings, but what really makes me hate him is how some people put him on a pedestal as if he's the foremost authority. Most of what he states is either common sense, outdated technique, or unfounded personal opinion.
- subtleGradient, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Having all that raw data and ways to sort and filter it is great, but if you can't understand any of it, what's the point?
Also, your scribble view: http://www.imnmotion.com/reference/2006/06/11/imn_screenshot_8.jpg
Does that take into account browser window size, font size, screen resolution or liquid layout adjustments?
Two people positioning their mouse at 100px by 100px could both be pointing at entirely different objects on the page depending on all those factors. - subtleGradient, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1ClickHeat is another great example of something that has totally useless misaligned data.
Note my comment on that blog article:
"I’m a huge fan of open source.
However, THE DATA YOU GET FROM CLICKHEAT IS REALLY USELESS if you have an even slightly dynamic site or your users don’t all browse with the exact same browser in the same resolution and font sizes.
It is absolutely not the same technology used by CrazyEgg.
CrazyEgg has a unique “Dynamic Heatmap” that automatically adjusts to layout changes and dynamic content to give you accurate data on what is clicked on your page.
I know it seems like pretty basic functionality that all “heatmaps” should have, but they mostly all give you really crappy data." - Gwarg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That is definitely an interesting and worthwhile tool for web designers. You can learn a lot about the type of traffic you are generating by the way people use your site.
- subtleGradient, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The cookie is only used to track unique visitors.
The only difference is that users without the cookie will count as a new visitor each time they visit instead of just a new visit for an existing visitor.
Everything else like Heatmap and visit count and everything work exactly the same either way - Pottypotsworth, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0You can get what you need from Google Analytics, the site overlay feature will show what you need to know about clicks from certain areas of your site. If you really want to know about how users interact with your site then do some FREE usability testing. Just tell everyone you know to test your site, you will have the best analytics about usability you could ever hope for.
- colin7151, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2check out http://blog.corunet.com/english/the-definitive-heatmap for a free software package that dose the same thing with no limitations
- jeffrod, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2sounds pretty cool!
- subtleGradient, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Thank you for giving us a great example of something whose data totally fails in comparison with CrazyEgg. You totally prove my point.
- flarn2006, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Cool, but buried because it's not free.
- tileeater, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3***** jakob nielsen he is a ***** eating retard.
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