A Study of How List Format Influences the Visual Search Performance

Previous research has shown that format design has an impact on the usability of listing pages. This study investigated the effects of specific list presentation format on visual search performance and subjective satisfaction in e-commerce listing pages. At first, we found seven important commodity features for consumers through pre-study. Then, an eye tracking study was conducted to record the visual search for target items and cognitive workload based on three different list formats (Vertical Format/T Format/Block format) in e-commerce websites. The results suggested that list format could significantly influence the visual search performance and satisfaction. The efficiency of Vertical format and T format is higher than block format. Designers could get some valid references from this result when they are designing listing pages.