Impact of Gender and Information Layout on User Experience and Gaze Patterns in a Fitness and Diet App Interface

Public interest in the mobile diet and fitness app has increased since the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite this fad, previous studies have not considered the impact of gender and information layout of the app on user experience measured using subjective and objective metrics. To solve this scientific gap, we conducted a novel investigation on a mobile app interface using eye tracking and the User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ). We implemented the Design Thinking method to produce a realistic fitness and diet app interface. The study evaluated two interface designs with 56 participants, equally divided into 28 men and 28 women. The participants were assigned four different tasks to complete. We found a significant difference in the Time to First Fixation metric during the fourth task on different information layouts <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$(p &lt; 0.05)$</tex>. In addition, we found that the grid layout was superior to the list layout in visual search with faster search time and fewer eye fixations. UEQ analysis reveals substantial gender differences: men prefer the grid layout because it emphasizes stimulation provided by the design. In contrast, women prefer the list layout because it prioritizes an overall attractive design. This study has successfully addressed the impact of information layout and gender on user experience on a fitness and diet app interface. Furthermore, this research serves as a valuable resource for considering information layout and evaluating the user experience of mobile applications using an eye tracker.