First-Click Test vs. Highlight Areas: Which Fits Your Research Question¶

Two features on Opionate both start the same way: you upload an image and draw a rectangle on it. From there, they do opposite things - and because the starting action looks identical, it's a genuinely easy pair to mix up, even for someone who knows the platform reasonably well. Getting this wrong doesn't just produce an awkward setup; it produces a section that answers a different research question entirely, or in the worst case, silently collects no meaningful data at all.

The Real Difference: Reveal vs. Record¶

Highlight areas (inside a Stimulus Section) are shown to respondents. You draw a region, optionally link it to a specific question, and that region is automatically revealed - highlighted directly on the image - at the moment a respondent reaches the linked question. Nothing about this records a click. It's a guided reveal, entirely in your control as the creator: you decide what gets shown and when.

First-Click Test zones are never shown to respondents. You draw a region, but it stays invisible for the entire interaction. What gets recorded instead is the respondent's own click - where they tapped, unprompted, with zero guidance from you about where the target even is. It's the opposite of a guided reveal: a measurement of unprompted behavior, not a presentation you control.

Put plainly: highlight areas answer "I want to show them this region." First-Click Test answers "I want to find out if they'd find this region on their own."

Where This Confusion Actually Shows Up¶

The mix-up tends to happen in exactly the moment both features sound plausible for the same request - "I want respondents to notice this part of the image." That phrasing is genuinely ambiguous between the two until you ask a follow-up question: do you want to show them that part, or find out whether they'd find it themselves?

• "I want to call out the key feature in this screenshot before asking about it." That's a highlight area - you're deliberately drawing attention to something before a related question, which is exactly the guided-reveal job highlight areas do.
• "I want to know if people would actually find the key feature on their own, without me pointing it out." That's First-Click Test - the entire value of the result depends on the respondent having no idea where you expect them to look.

Using a highlight area when you meant First-Click Test produces a test that proves nothing, since you've already shown respondents exactly where to click before they click it. Using First-Click Test when you meant a highlight area produces a section that never shows respondents the thing you actually wanted them to notice, since zones are permanently invisible by design.

What Opionate Offers for Each¶

Highlight areas live inside a plain Stimulus Section - draw a region, link it to one or more questions, and it's revealed automatically when a respondent reaches a linked question. There's no click-tracking involved at all; it's a presentation tool, not a measurement one.

First-Click Test is its own section type - draw one or more zones, set how many clicks you're allowing (one, for a classic first-click test, or more), and every click a respondent makes is recorded and scored against your invisible zones. Results come back as a Click Heatmap, overlaying every click on the original image.

FAQ¶

Can I use both in the same Advanced Survey?
Yes - a Stimulus Section with highlight areas and a First-Click Test section are both just section types, and an Advanced Survey can mix as many section types as your research plan needs.

If I link a highlight area to a question, does that count as tracking where someone looked?
No - a highlight area reveal is entirely creator-controlled and automatic; it doesn't record anything about where a respondent's attention actually went, only that the question tied to it was reached.

Can a First-Click Test zone also be revealed to respondents, like a highlight area?
No - First-Click Test zones are built specifically to stay invisible for the whole interaction. If you want something revealed, that's what a highlight area is for, in a plain Stimulus Section instead.

Which one should I use if I just want respondents to react to an image with open-ended questions, no regions involved at all?
Neither - a plain Stimulus Section without any highlight areas defined is the right fit for an open reaction, with your questions doing the work instead of a region on the image.

For the mechanics of each, see Setting Up Image and Video Stimulus Testing and How to Set Up a First-Click Test Section.