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 Learning 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 comprises 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 eye-tracking systems, two physiological response measurement tools (including heart rate and GSR monitoring), adjustable cameras, control-room cameras, and synchronization and control systems for use inside and outside the experiment room.
This setup enables students and researchers to conduct observations, experiments, and diverse research and learning activities in an environment that actively encourages hands-on learning.
Students working in the lab are exposed to scientific research methodologies from both qualitative and quantitative research traditions, gaining hands-on experience with advanced instrumentation for measuring cognitive activity such as eye-tracking systems. Areas of practice include interface 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
Eye tracking is an advanced sensory technology that identifies and analyzes where users focus their gaze. It enables researchers to monitor eye movements across a variety of usage and learning scenarios, and to examine which areas of an interface users attend to. The data collected can be used to measure interface effectiveness, identify areas for improvement, and drive data-informed optimization. Beyond usability, eye movement analysis provides insights into cognitive processes and learning patterns, contributing to a deeper understanding of how users think and interact with digital interfaces.
The lab operates four advanced Tobii eye-tracking devices 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 eye tracking can help answer:
What is the first thing a user sees – and is it the most important element?
Physiological Response Measurement (GSR and Heart Rate)
Measuring physiological responses including galvanic skin response (GSR) and heart rate enables the detection of physiological changes that indicate users’ emotional arousal. These technologies allow researchers to measure parameters such as electrodermal activity (GSR) and heart rate, which reflect users’ levels of engagement, stress, and excitement during interaction.
The lab is equipped with Shimmer devices for measuring electrodermal activity, which can be used simultaneously with or independently of eye tracking. In addition, a dedicated interface called Xsenso was developed for the lab as part of a undergraduate capstone project in the Faculty of Learning 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.
Facial Expression Analysis
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, detecting 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.
360° Cameras
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 the 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 the 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 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.
