First Eyetracking Results of Dutch CoronaMelder Contact Tracing and Notification App

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has led to a global pandemic. Many countries are using contact tracing as one of the interventions to control virus transmission. In conventional contact tracing, index cases with positive test results are asked to provide contact information of close contacts who were at risk of acquiring infection from the index case, within a given time period before the positive test result. Mobile contact tracing apps can augment traditional contact tracing, as they exchange contact information wirelessly and semi-automatically, and allow for quicker warning of at-risk contacts. However, little is known about user acceptance and perception of such contact tracing apps, or how people perceive the advice presented therein. In July 2020, the beta version of the official Dutch corona notification app was usability tested with participants from various age groups. This paper presents the results of the objective eye tracking measurements executed during these usability tests. The results show that both health and process related information is easily overlooked in the app by participants. A closed-loop contact with the builders of the app allowed for a direct feedback channel and quick improvements during the development stage.