Beneficial effects of spatial sharing of visual attention on player's performance in a video game

In user interface design, spatial proximity between areas of interest is considered beneficial for user's performance. This study aimed at investigating the impact of split visual attention on players' performance in a video game. The first experiment showed that closer proximity of an important element of a video game user interface, namely the score, with the most watched area of the game screen did not lead to significantly better performance. The second experiment showed that the players' performance was actually better when the score was displayed below the game screen, though the scattering of eye fixations was larger than in the other conditions. For video games user interface, spatial sharing of visual attention may lead to better players' performance.