The User Experience Research Lab is an innovative, state-of-the-art facility that investigates how people process information, interact with technology, and learn through a wide range of digital tools. Research areas include digital interfaces displayed on computer screens, tablets, and smartphones; augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) interfaces; and physical interfaces such as social robots.
The lab serves faculty members for both teaching and research in the field of user experience, as well as undergraduate and graduate students in the Faculty of Instructional Technologies through dedicated courses, capstone projects, and seminar papers. The lab also maintains active collaborations with researchers and students from other faculties within and outside the institute, as well as with industry organizations and partners.
The lab includes several distinct work areas: an acoustically treated experiment room and a learning room, separated by a one-way mirror, along with a reception area for welcoming participants. All rooms are equipped with advanced workstations and peripheral equipment for controlling research and learning setups. The lab’s infrastructure includes four advanced screen based eye-tracking systems (for computer, tablet and mobile screens) and eye-tracking glasses, two physiological response measurement tools (including heart rate and GSR monitoring), adjustable cameras, and synchronization and control systems for use inside and outside the experiment room.
This setup enables students and researchers to conduct diverse studies, observations, and learning activities in an encouraging hands-on environment.
Students participating in the lab are introduced to both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies while gaining hands-on experience with advanced technologies for studying human cognition and behaviour, such as state-of-the-art eye-tracking systems. Areas of practice include interface design and specification processes, usability testing, product evaluation from concept through prototype, the use of advanced analytical tools, and the integration of data from multiple sources.
Research and design thinking processes are further supported by AI-based analytics, enabling the creation of additional platforms for learning and critical thinking.
Eye tracking is a non-invasive technology that records and analyzes eye movements, providing objective measures of where and for how long users look while interacting with digital interfaces. It enables researchers to examine patterns of visual attention across a wide range of interaction and learning scenarios, revealing how users process information and navigate interfaces. The resulting data can be used to evaluate interface effectiveness, identify usability issues, and support evidence-based design improvements. Beyond usability evaluation, eye movement analysis provides valuable insights into cognitive processes, decision making, and learning, contributing to a deeper understanding of how users perceive, process, and interact with digital environments. The lab operates four advanced Tobii eye-tracking systems designed for use with computer screens, tablets, and smartphones. Field studies conducted outside the lab are also supported using these devices.
Additionally, the lab uses a pair of Pupil Labs eye-tracking glasses, which extend eye-tracking research to additional interface types and physical environments. These glasses enable more naturalistic and ecological experiments, allowing researchers to observe user behavior in real time and in authentic usage settings.
Data analysis includes working with numerical datasets and a range of visual representations, notably Heat Maps and Gaze Plots – two key methods for visualizing users’ gaze patterns, identifying attention hotspots, and understanding interaction dynamics.
UX questions that eyetracking can help answer:
The lab is equipped with two Shimmer devices measuring biometric and kinematic activity. By measuring physiological responses including galvanic skin response (GSR) and heart rate, they enable researchers to detect physiological changes associated with users’ emotional arousal during interactions.
These devices can be used either in combination with eye- tracking or as standalone measurement tools. . In addition, a dedicated interface called Xsenso was developed for the lab as part of an undergraduate capstone project in the Faculty of Instructional Technologies. Xsenso enables the measurement of electrodermal activity and heart rate and synchronizes this data with eye-tracking data in a visual, UX-research-oriented display.
Combining physiological data with behavioral measures such as eye-tracking or interface interaction analysis provides a comprehensive and nuanced picture of the user experience, enabling deeper insight into the emotional and cognitive dimensions of learning and technology use.
The lab employs a facial expression analysis system that captures users’ expressions during interaction with digital systems. Based on advanced computer vision and artificial intelligence technologies, the system identifies and analyzes facial expressions in real time or from recorded video footage, inferring emotions such as happiness, surprise, frustration, fear, anger, and disgust.
The facial expression analysis system allows researchers to examine how users respond emotionally to content, interfaces, and digital learning environments even when users do not verbally express their feelings. The system produces quantitative and visual data, enabling in-depth analysis of user experience over time and across different interaction points.
Facial expression data can also be integrated and synchronized with the other data streams collected in the lab, providing a broader and more accurate picture of users’ emotional, cognitive, and behavioral experiences throughout the research process.
The lab’s research room is equipped with three advanced cameras that record participants from multiple angles. These recordings enable in-depth analysis of facial expressions, body language, and vocal cues, providing additional insights into user experience in real time.
Dedicated software enables synchronized playback of recordings from all camera angles, supporting analysis, learning, and collaborative review by students and researchers.
Video recordings can also be synchronized with eye-tracking data, yielding a more precise, complete, and enriched view of user behavior and the overall experience throughout the research session.
Beyond research, the lab serves as a hands-on learning environment for a variety of courses and capstone projects within the Faculty of Instructional Technologies’ undergraduate (B.A.) and graduate (M.A.) programs. Students are introduced to qualitative and quantitative research paradigms and apply methodologies for examining user and learning experiences in the digital age, including A/B Testing and Five Second Test. They also learn to work with the full range of lab tools, identifying the instruments best suited to their research questions and analyzing the data collected.
The lab also operates the UXplore – an AI-based system developed by students in the faculty – which guides students and researchers through the lab’s research planning process independently, step by step. UXplore provides personalized support and feedback throughout the planning stages, complementing the professional guidance offered by the lab team.
Sample Research Projects
Contact Us
Lab Director: Dr. Weigelt-Marom Hayley
Lab Manager: Oren Ben-Aharon
Technological Lead: Omri Kahana
We welcome new collaborations with partners from academia and industry alike.
If our work interests, you or you have an idea for a joint project we’d love to hear from you.
