A Scoping Review of Eye-Tracking Studies on the Usability Evaluation of Interactive Geovisualisations

This scoping review synthesizes how eye-tracking has been used to evaluate the usability of interactive geovisualisations, addressing the lack of structured overviews in this field. Following the PRISMA-ScR framework, a systematic search was conducted in Web of Science, Scopus and the ACM Digital Library for publications from 2005 to early 2025. The search yielded 727 records; after removing duplicates, 685 entries were screened, and 87 studies met all eligibility criteria. The review analyses visualization types, usability task categories, participant characteristics, study designs and applied eye-tracking metrics. Results show a dominant focus on interactive 2D maps, widespread use of fixation-based measures and persistent methodological challenges linked to dynamic content, changing map scales and limited ecological validity. Most studies rely on small, homogeneous samples and lack standardized usability metrics. The review identifies key research gaps and provides methodological recommendations to support more robust, comparable and user-centred evaluations of interactive cartographic interfaces.