Website Aesthetics Impacts User Satisfaction and Actual Use: The Role of Trust and Focused Immersion

Aesthetics represents website attractiveness pleasing to the senses and especially to the eyes. Website aesthetics is crucial to determine user preference, user satisfaction and website quality. However, studies are needed to systematically analyze how website aesthetic features (i.e., classical and expressive aesthetics) stimulate user affective and cognitive reactions (i.e., trust and focused immersion), and in turn impact user satisfaction and actual use behavior. Grounded on the Stimulus-Organism-Response model from environmental psychology literature, we examine this phenomenon. A large survey study was designed and carried out with over 1000 respondents. We used PLS techniques to analyze our data. We found that both classical and expressive aesthetics significantly affect user trust. Classical aesthetics has a negative effect on focused immersion whereas expressive aesthetics have a positive effect on focused immersion. Both trust and focused immersion positively impacts user satisfaction leading to actual use. Finally, study findings and implications are discussed. _x000D

Usability Perceptions of Culturally Adapted Web Pages

The internationalization of websites should lead to highly usable web pages with excellent user experience. As a result, the understanding and implementation of users’ preferences for functionality, look, feel and aesthetics in website design has become a fundamental issue that needs to be adequately addressed. This research empirically demonstrates the interaction of user culture with user perceptions of perceived navigability, perceived aesthetics, and satisfaction, using a set of translated Australian and Chinese websites. The results show that by implementing culturally specific design elements it is possible to have a positive influence on these perceptions, but the relationships are more complex than originally hypothesized. This work highlights the importance of accommodating the different information presentation and interaction styles of culturally diverse users to improve their user experience when using websites

Users’ perception of visual design and usefulness of a web-based educational tool

Our research has become increasingly aware of the relevance of visual design in understanding learners’ attitudes towards the use of virtual tools. Likewise, perceived usefulness is an essential antecedent of the cumulative impressions of and preferences for them. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the main effects of visual design and usefulness on learning and productivity in the domain of web-based educational tools. A Structural Equation Modelling, specifically Partial Least Square (PLS), is proposed to assess the relationships between the constructs. Visual design and usefulness have a significant effect on the learner’s perception of the extent to which needs, goals and desires have been fully met, and, by extension, learning performance. Furthermore, higher expressive aesthetics reduces the impact of classical features on satisfaction

Effects of Aesthetics and Playfulness on Web Usability – An empirical investigation

Limited empirical research exists on the explicit relevance of hedonic dimensions (aesthetics and playfulness) of humancomputer interaction design to usability. This research aims to determine the effects of color temperature on the perceptions of websites aesthetics, playfulness, and in turn usability. A Partial Least Squares (PLS) analysis of data collected from 328 participants in a four-group between-subject research design involving the use of a mock hotel website offered support for all nine hypotheses proposed. ‘Cooler’ colors (e.g. blue) were found to favorably impact perceptions of classical aesthetics, which in turn influenced perceptions of efficiency positively, while also correlating with perceptions of expressive aesthetics. The latter, on the other hand, were affected favorably by warmer colors (e.g. red), and had a positive effect on perceptions of playfulness. In line with prior usability studies, positive relationships between efficiency and effectiveness respectively and satisfaction with the Website were supported, and by considering the shown positive relationship between playfulness and satisfaction 60% of the variance in satisfaction was explained. Implications for theory and practice are also discussed

Icon Types, Classical and Expressive Aesthetics, Pleasurable Interaction and Satisfaction with the Process of Semi-literate Users

The hedonic role of icons has been undermined in contemporary human computer interaction research, though users have specifically mentioned the importance of icons while performing aesthetic evaluation of user interfaces. Previous research has also neglected factors like aesthetics and pleasurable interaction while comparing efficiency of same interface elements. In this regard, current study investigates how different types of icons in mobile applications affect the aesthetics and pleasurable interactions of semi-literate users. This study also investigates the extent to which aesthetics and pleasurable interactions affect satisfaction with the process. The study addresses these issues from the theoretical perspectives of metaphor and aesthetics. Significant differences were observed for aesthetics and pleasurable interactions between two different types of icon sets, namely metaphoric and idiomatic. This study suggests that for higher evaluation of aesthetics and pleasurable interaction for semi-literate users, specific icon types are preferred

Role of Emotions and Aesthetics in ICT Usage for Underserved Communities: A NeuroIS Investigation

Usability and efficiency has received lot of attention in terms of ICT usage and attitude however non instrumental factors like emotions and aesthetics and their impact on ICT usage attitude and performance has not been extensively tested. Further underserved communities are focused communities that have limitations in terms of formal and functional literacy and technology experience. Aesthetics have been shown to be an important predictor of usage but this has not been tested in underserved communities. Also positive emotions have been linked to greater ICT usage as well as aesthetic experience. Measurement of factors like emotions, aesthetic preferences and ICT usage has so far been restricted to questionnaires however we propose to use objective measures like brain imaging technique (EEG) to supplement existing methodologies. The current paper is a research in progress that addresses potential role of aesthetics and emotions for understanding aesthetic preferences and ICT usages in underserved communities

EXTROVERT OR INTROVERT: HOW PERSONALITY MODERATES THE EFFECT OF VISUAL AESTHETICS ON APP ATTRACTIVENESS IN MOBILE APPLICATIONS

We propose a conceptual model for the context of mobile applications (apps) that explains the relationship between perceived visual aesthetics, perceived visual attractiveness, and intention to download. The model predicts that the aesthetics characteristics influence users’ perceived app attractiveness and users’ intention to download the app. It further predicts an interaction effect, where users’ personality types moderate the effect of aesthetics characteristics on perceived app attractiveness. In other words: differences in aesthetics characteristics explain differences in perceived app attractiveness. However, this effect varies for different types of user personality. We explain the model’s grounding in theory, describe the design of a laboratory experiment for empirically testing the model, and explain our manipulations of the aesthetics characteristics along its classic and expressive dimensions. Besides presenting our conceptual model and describing out planned experimental design, this study encourages researchers to further investigate how aesthetics characteristics affect intention formation depending on user personality types

Comparison of User Experience between Goal-directed and Experiential Users on Customer Satisfaction in Tourism Marketplace

This research aimed to examine the effect of user experience on Pigijo’s website www.pigijo.com on Pigijo customer satisfaction by using an experimental study and comparing between two different groups of user behavior, namely goal-directed and experiential. The experiment was conducted using an accidental purposive sampling technique on 60 respondents divided into two groups based on user behavior. The data collection of this experiment used a questionnaire that had been tested for validity and reliability, then carried out various tests and analyses such as descriptive analysis, t-test, and regression tests. As a result of the research. It was found that the user experience on the www.pigijo.com website has a positive relationship and influence on Pigijo customer satisfaction, where the goal-directed group has a higher average rating (69.40%) and affects customer satisfaction more positively compared to the experiential group (65.50%)