For my Masters Thesis, I collaborated with Bunnyfoot, a usability agency, and Lancaster University to develop and validate a new usability testing methodology. 

The technique combined eye-tracking technology with traditional verbalization methods.  Traditionally, researchers get users to verbalise (or Think Aloud) whilst they are complete a task.  This can be a valuable way to elicit active thought processes, but it also places a cognitive load on the participant, which either inhibits their performance on the task or they can experience difficulty communicating their thoughts at the same time.  

The new methodology involved letting the user complete the task as they would naturally, without speaking to the researcher.  Afterwards, we played the eye tracking data back to them, and let them talk us through the task and their behaviours, prompted by eye tracking data.  We named this new method 'Retrospective Protocol' or PEEP.  The research demonstrated this new methodology allowed researchers to detect a greater number of usability problems than traditional methods. 

I presented the findings at the 21st British HCI Group Annual Conference in September 2007.