Academic Journal of Business & Management, 2026, 8(7); doi: 10.25236/AJBM.2026.080703.
Zhang Ruochen, Sun Junhua
Business School,University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
With the rapid development of online travel platforms, improving the usability of mobile flight booking interfaces has become increasingly important. This study investigates user behavior during the flight booking process based on an eye-tracking experiment. Taking the Qunar mobile application as the research object, a simulated flight booking task was conducted on 20 participants. Eye-tracking data and operation paths were collected to analyze users’ behavioral characteristics during different stages. The results show that users mainly perform information searching and comparison behaviors during the browsing stage, frequently switching between flight lists, filtering functions, and flight details. During the booking stage, users mainly focus on information verification, including passenger information, discount information, additional services, and payment amounts. The comparison between operation paths and eye-tracking paths indicates that users often conduct visual confirmation before performing operations. Based on these findings, this study suggests optimizing flight information presentation and functional layout, as well as improving cost information transparency. The results provide practical implications for enhancing the usability and user experience of online travel platform interfaces.
eye-tracking experiment; user behavior; online travel platform; flight booking interface; interface optimization
Zhang Ruochen, Sun Junhua. User Behavior Analysis of Online Flight Booking Interfaces Based on Eye-Tracking Experiments: Evidence from Qunar App. Academic Journal of Business & Management (2026), Vol. 8, Issue 7: 13-18. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJBM.2026.080703.
[1] Nielsen J. Usability Engineering[M]. Boston: Academic Press, 1993.
[2] Norman D A. The Design of Everyday Things[M]. Revised and Expanded Edition. New York: Basic Books, 2013.
[3] Duchowski A T. Eye Tracking Methodology: Theory and Practice[M]. 2nd ed. London: Springer, 2007.
[4] Poole A, Ball L J. Eye Tracking in HCI and Usability Research[M]//Ghaoui C (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Human Computer Interaction. Pennsylvania: Idea Group, 2006:211-219.
[5] Tullis T, Albert W. Measuring the User Experience: Collecting, Analyzing, and Presenting Usability Metrics[M]. 2nd ed. Burlington: Morgan Kaufmann, 2013.
[6] Wedel M, Pieters R. Eye Tracking for Visual Marketing[J]. Foundations and Trends in Marketing, 2008, 1(4): 231-320.
[7] Pan B, Zhang L, Smith K. A Mixed-Method Study of User Behavior and Usability on an Online Travel Agency Website[J]. Journal of Travel Research, 2007, 46(2): 218-228.
[8] Scott N, Zhang R, Le D, et al. A Review of Eye-Tracking Research in Tourism[J]. Current Issues in Tourism, 2019, 22(10): 1244-1261.