Usability Testing with Eye-Tracking Case Study

Seeing What Analytics Couldn’t: Improving Checkout Conversion with Eye-Tracking Research

Fall 2025

Written by:

Claire Jen

Project Summary

Hooked on Phonics is a multi-sensory reading program for young children (Pre-K to 2nd Grade) with a target audience of parents and homeschoolers. Although their business model emphasizes subscriptions, one-time purchases remain an important, under-optimized revenue source. To uncover opportunities for improvement, the Hooked on Phonics team partnered with the Pratt DX Center. While third-party analytics (VWO) provided quantitative data, it did not explain why users were struggling in the checkout flow. We believed that testing directly with users using eye tracking would reveal the critical friction points. We conducted an eye tracking study and made our recommendations to the client.