Haizley Trevor-Smith

Bio: Haizley Trevor-Smith is an academic researcher from Simon Fraser University. The author has contributed to research in topics: User interface design & Page layout. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 2 publications receiving 269 citations.

Localization of Web design: An empirical comparison of German, Japanese, and United States Web site characteristics

Abstract: To explore issues of user interface design and experience, including culturally preferred design elements, a study was conducted analyzing sites in Germany, Japan, and the United States (30 municipal sites in each country). Design elements considered are use of symbols and graphics, color preferences, site features (links, maps, search functions, and page layout), language, and content. Significant modal differences were found in each of the listed categories. Outcomes from the study are used to discuss future research directions in the areas of experience design and localization.

Building E-Loyalty Across Cultures and Organizational Boundaries

Abstract: Managers and researchers are struggling with the concept of e-loyalty and how trust can be developed in online environments. In an article in the Harvard Business Review, Reichheld and Schetter (2000, 105) suggest building loyalty on the Web does “raise new questions and open new opportunities; it places the old rules in a new context.” Trust has implications for competitiveness, and vendors who are successful in developing relationships with customers online create a “virtuous circle” that can quickly translate into a durable advantage. Less clear is how to build trust in virtual communities, and for the companies that host them. Further, creating loyalty is not related to fads and technological “bells and whistles,” but rather to old-fashioned customer service basics including quality customer support (Reichheld and Schetter 2000).

Modeling Web Site Design Across Cultures: Relationships to Trust, Satisfaction, and E-Loyalty

Abstract: Despite rapidly increasing numbers of diverse online shoppers, the relationship of Web site design to trust, satisfaction, and loyalty has not previously been modeled across cultures. In the current investigation, three components of Web site design (information design, navigation design, and visual design) are considered for their impact on trust and satisfaction. In turn, relationships of trust and satisfaction to online loyalty are evaluated. Utilizing data collected from 571 participants in Canada, Germany, and China, various relationships in the research model are tested using partial least squares analysis for each country separately. In addition, the overall model is tested for all countries combined as a control and verification of earlier research findings, although this time with a mixed country sample. All paths in the overall model are confirmed. Differences are determined for separate country samples concerning whether navigation design, visual design, and information design result in trust, satisfaction, and ultimately loyalty-suggesting design characteristics should be a central consideration in Web site design across cultures.

Exploring human images in website design: a multi-method approach

Abstract: Effective visual design of e-commerce websites enhances website aesthetics and emotional appeal for the user. To gain insight into how Internet users perceive human images as one element of website design, a controlled experiment was conducted using a questionnaire, interviews, and eye-tracking methodology. Three conditions of human images were created including human images with facial features, human images without facial features, and a control condition with no human images. It was expected that human images with facial features would induce a user to perceive the website as more appealing, having warmth or social presence, and as more trustworthy. In turn, higher levels of image appeal and perceived social presence were predicted to result in trust. All expected relationships in the model were supported except no direct relationship was found between the human image conditions and trust. Additional analyses revealed subtle differences in the perception of human images across cultures (Canada, Germany, and Japan). While the general impact of human images seems universal across country groups, based on interview data four concepts emerged--aesthetics, symbolism, affective property, and functional property--with participants from each culture focusing on different concepts as applied to website design. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Colour appeal in website design within and across cultures: A multi-method evaluation

Abstract: Colour has the potential to elicit emotions or behaviors, yet there is little research in which colour treatments in website design are systematically tested. Little is known about how colour affects trust or satisfaction on the part of the viewer. Although the Internet is increasingly global, few systematic studies have been undertaken in which the impact of colour on culturally diverse viewers is investigated in website design. In this research three website colour treatments are tested across three culturally distinct viewer groups for their impact on user trust, satisfaction, and e-loyalty. To gather data, a rich multi-method approach is used including eye-tracking, a survey, and interviews. Results reveal that website colour appeal is a significant determinant for website trust and satisfaction with differences noted across cultures. The findings have practical value for web marketers and interface designers concerning effective colour use in website development.

Success Factors for Destination Marketing Web Sites: A Qualitative Meta-Analysis

Abstract: Destination marketing organizations invest considerable amounts of money in the development of Web sites as part of their overall promotion efforts. With increasing pressure on their budgets, it becomes ever more important for these organizations to assess the effectiveness of their Web sites, evaluate the return on their investments, and derive feedback on necessary improvements. Web site evaluation measures have been proposed in many ways and various contexts over the past decade. The study presented in this article used a qualitative meta-analysis methodology to synthesize the diverse findings. A unified framework of commonly used Web site success factors emerged from the analysis and included a total of nine factors: (1) information quality; (2) ease of use; (3) responsiveness; (4) security/privacy; (5) visual appearance; (6) trust; (7) interactivity; (8) personalization; and (9) fulfillment. Additional factors to further inform Web evaluation efforts were identified based on Werthner and Klein's dime...

An exploration of relations between visual appeal, trustworthiness and perceived usability of homepages

Abstract: Extremely high correlations between repeated judgments of visual appeal of homepages shown for 50 milliseconds have been interpreted as evidence for a mere exposure effect [Lindgaard et al. 2006]. Continuing that work, the present research had two objectives. First, it investigated the relationship between judgments differing in cognitive demands. Second, it began to identify specific visual attributes that appear to contribute to different judgments. Three experiments are reported. All used the stimuli and viewing time as before. Using a paradigm known to disrupt processing beyond the stimulus offset, Experiment 1 was designed to ensure that the previous findings could not be attributed to such continued processing. Adopting a within-subject design, Experiment 2 investigated the extent to which judgments differing in cognitive demands (visual appeal, perceived usability, trustworthiness) may be driven by the visual characteristics of a Web page. It also enabled analyses of visual attributes that contributed most to the different judgments. Experiment 3 replicated Experiment 2 but using a between-subject design to ensure that no practice effect could occur. The results suggest that all three types of judgments are largely driven by visual appeal, but that cognitively demanding judgments are processed in a qualitatively different manner than visual appeal, and that they rely on somewhat different visual attributes. A model accounting for the results is provided.