I've recently been working on a site for a brand new skincare product and have had numerous conversations about models. Not only is it important to use the right faces for the product, but also the positioning of them can play a big part in website usability. By using faces that capture the user's attention, we can guide them to key content on the site and encourage them to take certain action, leading to an increase in conversion.

When looking at people images on a website we tend to focus on their faces and eyes. This gives us a good technique for attracting attention. Studies from UsableWorld show that we actually look in the same direction that the face is looking in.

Take a look at the following image where the baby is looking directly towards the user. Using eye-tracking, a heat map shows where 106 people focused their eyes. The redder the spot, the more time people looked at it. Notice that there is a lot of focus on the baby's face and little on the text.

Now take a look at this second image where the baby is looking at the content. Notice the increase in people looking at the text as opposed to the baby.

A face looking directly out towards the user will simply result in the user looking back at them. Using an image where the model is looking towards key content will draw the user's attention towards it.

Look out for the new Dr Larhrib site coming soon to see how I've applied this technique!