Is beautiful really usable? Toward understanding the relation between usability, aesthetics, and affect in HCI
01 Sep 2012-Computers in Human Behavior (Elsevier Science Publishers B. V.)-Vol. 28, Iss: 5, pp 1596-1607
TL;DR: The results indicate that the user's affective experience with the usability of the shop might serve as a mediator variable within the aesthetics-usability relation: the frustration of poor usability lowers ratings on perceived aesthetics.
Abstract: This paper analyzes the relation between usability and aesthetics. In a laboratory study, 80 participants used one of four different versions of the same online shop, differing in interface-aesthetics (low vs. high) and interface-usability (low vs. high). Participants had to find specific items and rate the shop before and after usage on perceived aesthetics and perceived usability, which were assessed using four validated instruments. Results show that aesthetics does not affect perceived usability. In contrast, usability has an effect on post-use perceived aesthetics. Our findings show that the ''what is beautiful is usable'' notion, which assumes that aesthetics enhances the perception of usability can be reversed under certain conditions (here: strong usability manipulation combined with a medium to large aesthetics manipulation). Furthermore, our results indicate that the user's affective experience with the usability of the shop might serve as a mediator variable within the aesthetics-usability relation: The frustration of poor usability lowers ratings on perceived aesthetics. The significance of the results is discussed in context of the existing research on the relation between aesthetics and usability.
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01 Nov 2012-International Journal of Human-computer Studies \/ International Journal of Man-machine Studies
TL;DR: Investigating the role of visual complexity (VC) and prototypicality (PT) as design factors of websites, shaping users' first impressions by means of two studies suggests that VC and PT affect aesthetic perception even within 17ms, though the effect of PT is less pronounced than the one of VC.
Abstract: This paper experimentally investigates the role of visual complexity (VC) and prototypicality (PT) as design factors of websites, shaping users' first impressions by means of two studies. In the first study, 119 screenshots of real websites varying in VC (low vs. medium vs. high) and PT (low vs. high) were rated on perceived aesthetics. Screenshot presentation time was varied as a between-subject factor (50ms vs. 500ms vs. 1000ms). Results reveal that VC and PT affect participants' aesthetics ratings within the first 50ms of exposure. In the second study presentation times were shortened to 17, 33 and 50ms. Results suggest that VC and PT affect aesthetic perception even within 17ms, though the effect of PT is less pronounced than the one of VC. With increasing presentation time the effect of PT becomes as influential as the VC effect. This supports the reasoning of the information-processing stage model of aesthetic processing (Leder et al., 2004), where VC is processed at an earlier stage than PT. Overall, websites with low VC and high PT were perceived as highly appealing.
232 citations
Cites background from "Is beautiful really usable? Toward ..."
...Numerous studies show the influence of aesthetics on for instance the relationship to usability (de Angeli et al., 2006; Hassenzahl and Monk, 2010; Tuch et al., 2012), trust and credibility (Karvonen et al....
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...Numerous studies show the influence of aesthetics on for instance the relationship to usability (de Angeli et al., 2006; Hassenzahl and Monk, 2010; Tuch et al., 2012), trust and credibility (Karvonen et al., 2000; Robins and Holmes, 2008), and overall impression (Schenkman and Jönsson, 2000; Tuch…...
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TL;DR: This work presents a tool that allows you to evaluate the user experience of a product with little effort and shows how this tool can be used for a continuous user experience assessment.
Abstract: Developer, manager and user feedback is needed to optimize products. Besides the basic Software qualities � usability and user experience are important properties for improving your product.
Usability is well known and can be tested with e.g. a usability test or an expert review. In contrast user experience describes the whole impact a product has on the end-user. The timeline goes from before, while and after the use of a product. We present a tool that allows you to evaluate the user experience of a product with little effort. Furthermore the tool is available in different languages and we are using the new Spanish Version. We show how this tool can be used for a continuous user experience assessment.
173 citations
TL;DR: A set of usability dimensions that should be considered for designing and evaluating mobile applications is proposed as a model that considers four contextual factors: user, environment, technology and task/activity.
Abstract: Usability has been increasingly recognized as a significant quality dimension to determine the success of mobile applications. Due to its importance, a number of usability guidelines have been proposed to direct the design of usable applications. The guidelines are intended particularly for desktop and web-based applications. Mobile applications on the other hand are different in many ways from those applications due to the mobility nature of mobile devices. To date, the usability guidelines for mobile applications are very limited. They in fact are isolated, which makes usability evaluation for mobile devices more difficult. This study aims to address this issue by proposing a set of usability dimensions that should be considered for designing and evaluating mobile applications. The dimensions are illustrated as a model that considers four contextual factors: user, environment, technology and task/activity. The model was proposed based on the reviews of previous related studies, which were analyzed by using content analysis approach. Twenty-five dimensions were found from the analysis. The dimensions however were synthesized and prioritized based on their importance towards designing usable mobile applications. As a result, ten most important dimensions were outlined in the model. The model can be used by practitioners and researchers as a guideline to design usable mobile applications and further research can be conducted in the near future.
139 citations
Cites background from "Is beautiful really usable? Toward ..."
...Keywords: Empirical studies, evaluation, mobile applications, usability...
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...Tuch et al. (2012) defined aesthetic as beauty, classical expressive and hedoaestheticsty....
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21 Jun 2014
TL;DR: A review of more than ten years research on the hedonic is summarized to provide an overview of definitions, assessment tools, antecedents, consequences, and correlates, and suggests a number of areas for future research.
Abstract: Over the recent years, the notion of a non-instrumental, hedonic quality of interactive products received growing interest Based on a review of 151 publications, we summarize more than ten years research on the hedonic to provide an overview of definitions, assessment tools, antecedents, consequences, and correlates We highlight a number of contributions, such as introducing experiential value to the practice of technology design and a better prediction of overall quality judgments and product acceptance In addition, we suggest a number of areas for future research, such as providing richer, more nuanced models and tools for quantitative and qualitative analysis, more research on the consequences of using hedonic products and a better understanding of when the hedonic plays a role and when not
104 citations
Cites background from "Is beautiful really usable? Toward ..."
..., color, background texture, graphic elements [42, 50]) and assure differences in perceived hedonic quality by a pre-test or later manipulation check....
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..., [19, 20, 50]) revealed that the claimed relation between beauty on usability was due to a haloeffect: a perception of high quality on one dimension (e....
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..., [50, 52]), often referring back to the discussion on "what is beautiful is usable" (see [49])....
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Journal Article•
TL;DR: An eight-item questionnaire of website quality---the Standardized User Experience Percentile Rank Questionnaire (SUPR-Q), which contains four factors: usability, trust, appearance, and loyalty, can be used to generate reliable scores in benchmarking websites and understand how well a website scores relative to others in the database.
Abstract: A three part study conducted over five years involving 4,000 user responses to experiences with over 100 websites was analyzed to generate an eight-item questionnaire of website quality---the Standardized User Experience Percentile Rank Questionnaire (SUPR-Q). The SUPR-Q contains four factors: usability, trust, appearance, and loyalty. The factor structure was replicated across three studies with data collected both during usability tests and retrospectively in surveys. There was evidence of convergent validity with existing questionnaires, including the System Usability Scale (SUS). The overall average score was shown to have high internal consistency reliability (a = .86). An initial distribution of scores across the websites generated a database used to produce percentile ranks and make scores more meaningful to researchers and practitioners. The questionnaire can be used to generate reliable scores in benchmarking websites, and the normed scores can be used to understand how well a website scores relative to others in the database.
88 citations
Cites background from "Is beautiful really usable? Toward ..."
...Future analysis should continue to examine the relationship between appearance and usability, similar to the Tuch et al. (2012) paper....
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References
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Book•
27 May 1998TL;DR: The book aims to provide the skills necessary to begin to use SEM in research and to interpret and critique the use of method by others.
Abstract: Designed for students and researchers without an extensive quantitative background, this book offers an informative guide to the application, interpretation and pitfalls of structural equation modelling (SEM) in the social sciences. The book covers introductory techniques including path analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, and provides an overview of more advanced methods such as the evaluation of non-linear effects, the analysis of means in convariance structure models, and latent growth models for longitudinal data. Providing examples from various disciplines to illustrate all aspects of SEM, the book offers clear instructions on the preparation and screening of data, common mistakes to avoid and widely used software programs (Amos, EQS and LISREL). The book aims to provide the skills necessary to begin to use SEM in research and to interpret and critique the use of method by others.
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TL;DR: This chapter describes the System Usability Scale (SUS) a reliable, low-cost usability scale that can be used for global assessments of systems usability.
Abstract: Usability is not a quality that exists in any real or absolute sense. Perhaps it can be
best summed up as being a general quality of the appropriateness to a purpose of
any particular artefact. This notion is neatly summed up by Terry Pratchett in his
novel Moving Pictures:In just the same way, the usability of any tool or system has to be viewed in terms
of the context in which it is used, and its appropriateness to that context. With
particular reference to information systems, this view of usability is reflected in the
current draft international standard ISO 9241-11 and in the European Community
ESPRIT project MUSiC (Measuring Usability of Systems in Context) (e.g. Bevan
et al., 1991). In general, it is impossible to specify the usability of a system (i.e. its
fitness for purpose) without first defining who are the intended users of the system,
the tasks those users will perform with it, and the characteristics of the physical,
organizational and social environment in which it will be used.
9,101 citations
Journal Article•
5,359 citations
"Is beautiful really usable? Toward ..." refers methods in this paper
...Besides the subjective appraisals, we also assessed task completion time, number of clicks, and success rate as objective usability metrics (Hornbæk, 2006), and valence as emotional measurement using the self-assessment manikin (SAM) scale (Lang, 1980; Lang et al., 2005)....
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TL;DR: This study examines how emotional and cognitive responses to visiting a Web-based store for the first time can influence online consumers' intention to return and their likelihood to make unplanned purchases.
Abstract: In this study, we consider the online consumer as both a shopper and a computer user. We test constructs from information systems (Technology Acceptance Model), marketing (Consumer Behavior), and psychology (Flow and Environmental Psychology) in an integrated theoretical framework of online consumer behavior. Specifically, we examine how emotional and cognitive responses to visiting a Web-based store for the first time can influence online consumers' intention to return and their likelihood to make unplanned purchases. The instrumentation shows reasonably good measurement properties and the constructs are validated as a nomological network.A questionnaire-based empirical study is used to test this nomological network. Results confirm the double identity of the online consumer as a shopper and a computer user because both shopping enjoyment and perceived usefulness of the site strongly predict intention to return. Our results on unplanned purchases are not conclusive. We also test some individual and Web site factors that can affect the consumer's emotional and cognitive responses. Product involvement, Web skills, challenges, and use of value-added search mechanisms all have a significant impact on the Web consumer. The study provides a more rounded, albeit partial, view of the online consumer and is a significant steptowards a better understanding of consumer behavior on the Web. The validated metrics should be of use to researchers and practitioners alike.
3,045 citations
TL;DR: The results resemble those found by social psychologists regarding the effect of physical attractiveness on the valuation of other personality attributes and stress the importance of studying the aesthetic aspect of human–computer interaction (HCI) design and its relationships to other design dimensions.
Abstract: An experiment was conducted to test the relationships between users' perceptions of a computerized system's beauty and usability. The experiment used a computerized application as a surrogate for an Automated Teller Machine (ATM). Perceptions were elicited before and after the participants used the system. Pre-experimental measures indicate strong correlations between system's perceived aesthetics and perceived usability. Post-experimental measures indicated that the strong correlation remained intact. A multivariate analysis of covariance revealed that the degree of system's aesthetics affected the post-use perceptions of both aesthetics and usability, whereas the degree of actual usability had no such effect. The results resemble those found by social psychologists regarding the effect of physical attractiveness on the valuation of other personality attributes. The findings stress the importance of studying the aesthetic aspect of human–computer interaction (HCI) design and its relationships to other design dimensions.
1,260 citations
"Is beautiful really usable? Toward ..." refers background in this paper
...Three out of five studies showed a significant effect of interface-aesthetics on perceived usability (Ben-Bassat et al., 2006; Lee and Koubek, 2010; Tractinsky et al., 2000), whereas two report a trend in this direction (Mahlke and Thüring, 2007; Thüring and Mahlke, 2007)....
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...Interface-aesthetics was mostly neglected until papers by Kurosu and Kashimura (1995) and Tractinsky et al. (2000)....
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...(Tractinsky et al., 2000, p. 142)....
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...For instance, manipulating the aesthetics factor through changing or moving certain interface-elements involves the risk of unintentionally changing the interface’s usability (Tractinsky et al., 2000)....
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...Three out of five studies showed a significant effect of interface-aesthetics on perceived usability (Ben-Bassat et al., 2006; Lee and Koubek, 2010; Tractinsky et al., 2000), whereas two report a trend in this direction (Mahlke and Thüring, 2007; Thüring and Mahlke, 2007)....
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