Eye tracking technology and in-depth interviews were used to identify strengths and weaknesses within the NRSC public website. This report was completed as an example of the Snapshot Eye Tracking services offered by iTracking Research.

2. Scope
• Objectives
• Evaluate early UX and first impressions of the NRSC.org homepage design.
• Assess overall message delivery and understanding of the website purpose.
• Identify positive and negative aspects of the design.
• Research Details
• 5 panelists tested
• Registered Republican or Independent Voters
• Likely to vote in future elections
• Age 35 - 65

3. What They Saw
Homepage
Panelist instructions:
Today I’m going to show you a homepage of a political website. Please explore the
following page without clicking on any links, however you can scroll up and down
the page and hover over items with the mouse as much as you would like. Once
you have finished looking over the page, please let me know. Any questions?

4. Heatmap
Homepage_10 seconds
Page fold
+ The simple, single point hero design clearly directed early attention to the
hero message.
- However, the hero message was unclear, panelists were not sure what to do
or expect from the “I Agree” CTA. As a result, the likelihood of visitors clicking
this CTA was significantly reduced. In the first few moments, the design did not
answer the key questions of “Who is this?” and “Why should I care?”.
Recommendation: Provide a clear, simple to understand hero message
and CTA for an essential issue or call to action.
- The hero image did not effectively support the hero message. New visitors
spent too much time and effort trying to relate the imagery to the hero
message.
Recommendation: Provide a hero image that easily relates to the hero
message, one that reinforces the content and creates an experience
that visitors will cognitively relate to the message and readily recall.
- The low color contrast and small font design of the Top Nav did not
encourage interest or interaction. 3 of 5 panelists noted they did not notice
the Top Nav without researcher prompts.
Recommendation: Increase the color contrast and font size of the Top
Nav to increase visibility.

5. Heatmap
Homepage_55 seconds
+ Overall, the simple design and layout efficiently directed visual attention to important
elements on the homepage. The simple card designs allowed new visitors to easily
separate and segment key information.
- The full page width banner design confused several panelists. When viewed on a
desktop computer, the sharp contrast edges signaled a “false page bottom” and panelists
stopped exploring the homepage. (see Slide 7 for video replays)
Recommendation: Discontinue the full width banner design or provide obvious
indicators (breadcrumbs) that additional information is down the page.
- The progression of information for a homepage was poor. The design did not provide an
introduction to who and what the website was about; panelists were not encouraged to
learn more. Further, it was not clear to new visitors why news and press releases were
the primary content on the webpage. As a result, panelists quickly disengaged from the
homepage below the red banner ad; 2 of 5 panelists did not scroll the entire page.
- Overall, the homepage design provided poor early UX:
• The was no clear mission statement or purpose in the first few moments
• The was no clear “What should I do? or What can I do?”
• New visitors did not know why they should care about this homepage
• The design did not encourage interest or exploration
• The likelihood of bounce or abandonment from the website was high
False End of Page
False End of Page

6. Gaze Replay
Move mouse over
image and then click
the Play button to
view the video
Homepage_P05_34s
This gaze replay depicts the general behavior of new visitors looking this homepage over for the first time.
Overall, this replay demonstrates a rapid scanning behavior, indicative of uncertainty and low cognitive
effort. This panelist will likely have low recall of the webpage content and not return.

7. Gaze Replay – False End of Page Examples
Move mouse over
image and then click
the Play button to
view the video
Homepage_P02_38sHomepage_P03_57s
Examples of the “false end of page” effect of the full width banner design. The
orange and red colors match the stopping points depicted on Slide 5.

8. Responses 2
Homepage
• This broad range of first clicks suggests the homepage
design did not effectively provide visitors with clear paths to
information or next steps if they were interested in NRSC.

9. Responses
What are your thoughts and comments about this homepage?
The top navigation bar is too small. I didn’t notice it until just now, so I could’ve navigated that
way instead of scrolling down. I’d like more of a narrative to be included under the titles for
the news and press release articles. It’s a little confusing on what their goal really is.
It’s actually pretty visual. I’m undecided if it’s a good thing because it doesn’t really have
anything to do with making “America stronger.” Those are just mountains on a hillside, so the
imagery doesn’t quite match my expectations. The rest of the page has too much negativity. I
thought I’d reached the end of the page when I got to the red section information.
The “Latest News” section is basically bashing the Democratic party. I’d think the messaging
would want to support the idea that having the majority of the Republicans elected is what
would make America stronger by providing positive news about the Republican party versus
news bashing the Democratic party. I didn’t make it to the red section because I thought I had
already reached the end of the page.
I feel like that [hero] is wasted space. I'm looking for something to click there so they should
include something that people would be more likely to click. The [TopNav] is really tiny and in
the corner. I feel like there is a lot of news and not much information about the organization
itself. I'd like more information about NRSC's principles and what their purpose is. I feel like
the website is geared toward someone who is already aware of their organization. I'm left
feeling a little confused.
The [TopNav] gets lost, it's so small and in the corner, it was easily overlooked. I don' t know
that I would just click "I Agree.” When I see recent news, it's all about democrats.
-
I like that it’s clean and there isn’t a ton of stuff everywhere.
The [hero] image goes well with the word "strong".
I love the imagery of the mountains but I’m not sure how it relates to their messaging. I guess I
could see the image supporting the idea of “makes America stronger,” and it’s pretty. They
don’t have a person’s face there which is good. It’s very clean and easy to understand. It’s not
cluttered at all, which I like. The fact that they have multiple places with the “Donate” button
shows strong marketing. I fundraise for a living so I like that they make it easy to gift online.
I interpreted "Join the Team" to mean, be a part of us.
+
I would expect that if I clicked one of those items it would take me to a products page with the
selected item at the top of the page with the pricing and a list of other products would be listed
lower on that page.
I’d expect to be taken to a page that is specific to the gear I chose in the “Get the Gear” section
so that I could purchase that product.
If I selected one of the products in the “Get the Gear” section, I’d expect to be taken to a page
so I could order that item.
I would expect to go to the product page for the specific product if I selected one of the "Get
the Gear" items.
“Get the Gear” Expectations

10. Responses
What do you think is the purpose of this website?
To promote Republicans in general.
To get you to donate money to help them elect Republican candidates.
The purpose of the website is to encourage the support of the Republican candidates relative to the Senate.
An organization that is in support of the Republican party and trying to support the belief system that goes with that.
Obviously, it's a Republican site, so they're trying to recruit Republicans through donation or participation. Providing the
recent news from a Republican standpoint rather than a Democratic standpoint.
Comments
• Only 1 panelist actually mentioned “Senate” and only after scrolling
down the webpage and looking it over more carefully. 4 of 5 panelists
generalized the purpose of the site as supporting Republican
candidates.
• Note: Panelists were viewing the website while answering this question.

11. I imagine if I clicked "Read More" [Recent News] it would eventually take me
to news about the Republican party.
Read More [Recent News]. I'd start with the news articles. I'd judge this
website heavily on the articles they post because I'm very critical of
everything I read in the news. By the way an organization picks and chooses
the articles and what publications they come from, you can really tell what
their biases are.
Read More
I would expect that information to also be in the "About Us" [TopNav].
Learn More
Responses
I don't know. I saw "Join the Team", but to me that doesn't necessarily mean
newsletter.
I’m not sure. “Join the Team” maybe. It’s not really telling you that you’re
going to get a newsletter. It seems like it’s more about joining the team to
volunteer.
I don't know. It's not apparent, I would have to really dig to try and find it.
After looking over this page, maybe "Join the Team" but that makes it seem
like I want to work or volunteer for them.
Unsure

12. Recommendations for Future Research
Eye Tracking Benchmark
• Compare the new NRSC site against the current NRSC site to ensure improved usability and user
experience. These studies are tightly scripted and controlled with pre-determined performance indicators.
This type of research is very targeted and will often look at quantitative indicators.
Usability Card Sorting
• Card sorting helps you to understand and define the information architecture of a website in a way that
makes the most sense to your users. We recommend completing card sorting research to create the
perfect information architecture for your target audience. These tests can be conducted online, in an
unmoderated setting or in-person, moderated by one of our expert researchers.

13. Technical Specifications
Stimuli Duration
• Task: View until exhaustion or task completion
Heatmap
• Metric Type: Fixation Count
• Radius: 59 px
• Opacity: 70%
Gazeplot
• Metric Type: Fixation Duration
• Scale: 125%
• Opacity: 70%

14. Project Details
Timeline
• Week 1: Project setup, protocol development
• Week 2: Recruitment, data collection
• Week 3: Analysis, recommendations, report development, report delivery

15. Mike Whitson
Chief Research Scientist
iTracking Research