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Empirical Studies of Aesthetics in Information Technology

Empirical Studies of Aesthetics in Information Technology. Noam Tractinsky Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Nov 2003. Contents. Background Description of 4 empirical studies on aesthetics and IT Discussion. History: Emergence of the HCI Discipline.

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Empirical Studies of Aesthetics in Information Technology

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  1. Empirical Studies of Aesthetics in Information Technology Noam Tractinsky Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Nov 2003

  2. Contents • Background • Description of 4 empirical studies on aesthetics and IT • Discussion 11/2003 Haifa U.

  3. History: Emergence of the HCI Discipline • Context: Emergence of interactive systems • Roots: cognitive science, ergonomics • Goal: efficient interactions • Criteria: time, errors • Flagship concept: Usability • Aesthetics considered irrelevant if not outright harmful 11/2003 Haifa U.

  4. Future: The User Experience? • Context: universal accessibility, Web-based applications, customization, personalization, IT as consumer commodity • Goal: support the user experience • Affective Computing • Aesthetic Computing “…the theory, practice and application of aesthetics in computing.” • Funology: From Usability to Enjoyment 11/2003 Haifa U.

  5. Studies of Aesthetics of Information Technology 11/2003 Haifa U.

  6. Study 1 – ATM Layout Design Tractinsky, CHI ‘97 • Trigger: Kurosu and Kashimura, 1995 • K&K’s research goal was to find correlation between usability guidelines (“inherent usability”) and “apparent usability” • Finding: high correlations between perceptions of (pre-use) usability and of aesthetics • Interesting … but results are probably tainted by Japanese culture 11/2003 Haifa U.

  7. Study 1 – Cross-Cultural Validation • Repeat the study in Israel • Improve the methodology – three experiments • Exact replication • Separate measurement of aesthetic and usability responses • Computerized, complete randomization 11/2003 Haifa U.

  8. Example 1 11/2003 Haifa U.

  9. Example 2 11/2003 Haifa U.

  10. Results: Japan vs. Israel 11/2003 Haifa U.

  11. Very interesting … Beautiful = Usable ? 11/2003 Haifa U.

  12. Study 2 – ATM Usage Tractinsky, Shoval-Katz and Ikar, IwC, 2000 • What happens to the aesthetics-usability relation after usage? • Evaluation of 9 layouts from the previous studies (randomly displayed) on three attributes: usability, aesthetics, amount of information • Manipulating aesthetics: Assign to experimental groups first; then assign systems based on pre-experimental ratings • Manipulating Usability: Introduction of system delays and other faulty features • Participants completed 11 ATM tasks 11/2003 Haifa U.

  13. Experimental Design and Pre-Experiment Perceptions 11/2003 Haifa U.

  14. Correlations * p < .01 level. Table 2: A correlation matrix of pre-, and post-experimental measures (n = 124). The colors separate pre-experimental correlations between three measures (top-left), post-experimental correlations (bottom-right), and correlations between pre-, and post-experimental measures (top-right). 11/2003 Haifa U.

  15. Post-experimental perceptions of usability and aesthetics Fig. 1. Post-experimental perceptions of usability and aesthetics (on a 1-10 scale) under three levels of ATM aesthetics and two levels of ATM usability.

  16. MANCOVA * p < .01; ** p < .001. Table 3: Results and significance levels of univariate and stepdown F-tests of the effects of the Aesthetics and the Usability factors on post-experimental measures, with pre-experimental perceptions of usability as a covariate.

  17. Study 3 - Developing a Measurement Instrument for the Evaluation of Web-site AestheticsLavie and Tractinsky, IJHCS, in press • Questionnaire on aesthetics of Web sites • Four experiments • Three studies used students as participants • In the last study users were solicited from web-sites • Method – EFA, CFA 11/2003 Haifa U.

  18. Experiments • Experiment 1 – 125 students,http://www.times.com • Experiment 2 – 212 students,http://www.gap.com , http://www.macys.com • Experiment 3 - 145students,http://www.hashulcan.co.il • Experiment 4 - 384users, various sites 11/2003 Haifa U.

  19. Aesthetic Dimensions of Web sites (Exp. 4, cross-validation) Classical Aesthetics (α=.86) Aesthetic design Pleasant design Clear design # Clean design Symmetric design .78 Usability (α=.95) Convenient use Easy orientation Easy to use Easy to navigate Clear design # .63 ExpressiveAesthetics (α=.86) Creative design Fascinating design Use of special effects Original design Sophisticated design χ2 (df=158)= 259.12 p= .000 RMSEA = .058 TLI = .955 CFI = .962 IFI = .963 SRMR = .061 .40 11/2003 Haifa U.

  20. Study 4 - Skin PreferencesTractinsky and Zmiri • Motivation: The phenomenon of application personalization • By 2000, more than 50,000,000 skins had been downloaded from the major skin sites • Emotions towards computer applications are affected by three dimensions (after Rafaeli and Vilnai-Yavetz): • Usability • Aesthetics • Symbolism 11/2003 Haifa U.

  21. Application: Microsoft’s Media Player 11/2003 Haifa U.

  22. 11/2003 Haifa U.

  23. Procedure • Evaluate the default interface + 11 skins • Compare the default MP to two chosen skins; rate each on 15 items • Make a final choice; state the reasons 11/2003 Haifa U.

  24. Ratings of the Default and the 2 choices 11/2003 Haifa U.

  25. Table 1: Rotated factor matrix of responses to items reflecting usability, aesthetics, and symbolism.

  26. * p < .01 Table 2: Alpha reliabilities (on the diagonal) ,inter-variable correlations, and number of items for the three skin aspects 11/2003 Haifa U.

  27. Regression Analysis * p < .01, ** p<.001 Table 3: Adjusted R2 and standardized regression coefficients of the three skin aspects regressed on satisfying experience and pleasant experience. 11/2003 Haifa U.

  28. Open-ended Responses Coded by two independent judges Table 4: Number (percentage) of reasons provided for the general question and for the choice question, tabulated by skin aspect. *Main considerations in choosing a PC-based entertainment system #Reasons for choosing the most preferred skin

  29. Final Choice • 80% chose an alternative skin 11/2003 Haifa U.

  30. Vitruvian Principles of Architecture Firmitas Strength Durability Stability Utilitas Utility Convenience Venustas Beauty Grace 11/2003 Haifa U.

  31. Why aesthetics matters? 11/2003 Haifa U.

  32. Why aesthetics matters? • Level of performance exceeds most users’ needs • Aesthetically-based valuations are immediate and hard to overcome • Aesthetics satisfies basic human needs. • Like it or not, it’s here to stay … 11/2003 Haifa U.

  33. Conclusions • Relevant research area • Research is only at the beginning – needs replication and validation • Areas of extension • Multifaceted research – needs multiple approaches, visions, methodologies • More food for thought …. 11/2003 Haifa U.

  34. An alternative (tentative) model of IT adoption Adoption Emotion Cognition Expressive Aesthetics Classic Aesthetics Symbolism Usability (EOU) Usefulness 11/2003 Haifa U.

  35. 11/2003 Haifa U.

  36. HCI (Nielsen, 1993) Utility: whether the functionality of the system in principle can do what is needed. Usability: ”a quality attribute that assesses how easy user interfaces are to use” MIS (Davis, 1989) Usefulness: the extent to which using the system will enhance job performance. Ease of use: the extent to which using the system will be free of effort 11/2003 Haifa U.

  37. Source: Norman (1998) 11/2003 Haifa U.

  38. Stimuli and Measures 11/2003 Haifa U.

  39. 11/2003 Haifa U.

  40. 11/2003 Haifa U.

  41. Symbolism Usability Aesthetics Source: D. Norman, Emotional Design (2004) 11/2003 Haifa U.

  42. A Framework for the Study of Aesthetics in Information Systems? Methodological Issues:Exploring the black box Relations to Other Variables: Perceptions, Attitudes, Performance, Satisfaction Aesthetic Processes: Cognition, Affect IT Factors Moderators:System Type, Context, Culture, Personality 11/2003 Haifa U.

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