Aesthetics of Websites: The Formation of First Impressions and the Interplay Between Beauty and Usability
Event details
Date | 26.01.2015 |
Hour | 11:15 › 12:00 |
Speaker | Dr. Alexandre Tuch, University of Basel in Switzerland |
Location | |
Category | Conferences - Seminars |
IEL Seminar - React Group
Within the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and especially in the context of User Experience (UX) research, the aesthetics of user interfaces has become a topic of major interest. Numerous studies showed that aesthetics positively affects the users’ experience with interactive products. This line of research produced two findings that are particularly remarkable and call for further clarification: (1) Users are able to form reliable attractiveness appraisals (i.e., first impression) of a website within a fraction of time so short as 50 ms. However, it is unclear how such aesthetic impressions are formed and which factors decide as to whether a website triggers positive or negative appraisals. (2) Visually appealing websites are perceived as more usable than less appealing sites regardless of their actual usability. However, due to the lack of experimental studies manipulating aesthetics and usability as independent variables it remains unclear under which circumstances the aesthetics of an interface influences perceived usability, or vice versa.
In this talk I will present two experimental studies that try clarifying above-mentioned research issues. The first study investigates web design factors that shape user’s first impression. Our results reveal that the visual complexity and prototypicality of a website affect the users’ aesthetic appraisals within very short time frames (between 17 and 50 ms). The second study examines the interplay between aesthetics and usability in an online shopping scenario. 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. The findings will be discussed in regard to their theoretical and practical relevance.
Bio: Alexandre Tuch is a post-doctoral researcher and leader of the HCI Research Group at the Psychology Department (Division of Cognitive Psychology & Methodology) of the University of Basel in Switzerland. He spent one year as a post-doctoral researcher with the Human-Centered Computing (HCC) group at the Computer Science Department of the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, conducting research in the field of User Experience (UX). Alex holds a M.Sc. and Ph.D. degree in Psychology from the University of Basel.
His primary research interest is User Experience (UX) with a focus on the interplay between instrumental and non-instrumental qualities of interactive technologies. Thereby he investigates how users form first impressions of websites and how the visual appearance of an interface affects users’ perception of system qualities such as usability.
Within the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and especially in the context of User Experience (UX) research, the aesthetics of user interfaces has become a topic of major interest. Numerous studies showed that aesthetics positively affects the users’ experience with interactive products. This line of research produced two findings that are particularly remarkable and call for further clarification: (1) Users are able to form reliable attractiveness appraisals (i.e., first impression) of a website within a fraction of time so short as 50 ms. However, it is unclear how such aesthetic impressions are formed and which factors decide as to whether a website triggers positive or negative appraisals. (2) Visually appealing websites are perceived as more usable than less appealing sites regardless of their actual usability. However, due to the lack of experimental studies manipulating aesthetics and usability as independent variables it remains unclear under which circumstances the aesthetics of an interface influences perceived usability, or vice versa.
In this talk I will present two experimental studies that try clarifying above-mentioned research issues. The first study investigates web design factors that shape user’s first impression. Our results reveal that the visual complexity and prototypicality of a website affect the users’ aesthetic appraisals within very short time frames (between 17 and 50 ms). The second study examines the interplay between aesthetics and usability in an online shopping scenario. 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. The findings will be discussed in regard to their theoretical and practical relevance.
Bio: Alexandre Tuch is a post-doctoral researcher and leader of the HCI Research Group at the Psychology Department (Division of Cognitive Psychology & Methodology) of the University of Basel in Switzerland. He spent one year as a post-doctoral researcher with the Human-Centered Computing (HCC) group at the Computer Science Department of the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, conducting research in the field of User Experience (UX). Alex holds a M.Sc. and Ph.D. degree in Psychology from the University of Basel.
His primary research interest is User Experience (UX) with a focus on the interplay between instrumental and non-instrumental qualities of interactive technologies. Thereby he investigates how users form first impressions of websites and how the visual appearance of an interface affects users’ perception of system qualities such as usability.
Practical information
- Informed public
- Free
Organizer
Contact
- React Group, IEL, STI