The relationship between visual interface aesthetics, task performance, and preference

[摘要] The purpose of thisthesiswas to develop a conceptual framework that shows the relationship between aesthetics, performance, and preferencein computer interface design. To investigate this relationship,the thesisfocused on investigating the effect of layout aesthetics on visual search performance and preference. This thesis begins with a literature review of related work followed by the rationale for conducting this research, in particular, defining what it meant by visual aesthetics in the context of interface design. Chapter 4focused on investigating the effect of layout aesthetics on performance and preference. The resultsshow thatresponse timeperformance and preferenceincreased with increasingaesthetic level. Preference and performancewerefound to be highly correlated.Chapter 5focused on investigating users’ layoutpreferencewhen they were not involved with a performance-based task. The results showed, surprisingly,that preferencewashighest with a“moderate”level oflayout aesthetics and lowest with “high” and “low” levels of aesthetics.Chapter 6focused on investigating visual effortby measuring eye movement pattern during task performance. The results showed that visual effort increased with a decreasing level of aesthetics. Chapter 7extended the experimentin Chapter 4using more “ecologically valid” stimuli. The results essentially replicated the results produced in Chapter 4. Chapter 8focused on investigating the relationship betweenso-called “classical” aesthetics andbackground“expressive”aesthetics. The results showedthat task performance using classical aesthetics was highest with high and low levels of aesthetics and worstwith medium levelsof aesthetics. Performancewithexpressive aesthetics increased with decreasing aesthetic levels. This thesis concludes with a conceptual framework for aesthetic design to help interface designers design interfaces that look aesthetically pleasing while at the same time supporting good task performance.

[发布机构] University:University of Glasgow;Department:School of Computing Science

[关键词] Visual interface, aesthetics, task performance, preference