empirical studies of aesthetics in information technology noam tractinsky ben-gurion university of...

Empirical Studies of Aesthetics Empirical Studies of Aesthetics in Information Technologyin Information Technology

Noam TractinskyNoam Tractinsky

Ben-Gurion University of the NegevBen-Gurion University of the Negev

Nov 2003Nov 2003

Noam TractinskyNoam Tractinsky 11/2003 Haifa U.11/2003 Haifa U. 22

ContentsContents

1. Background

2. Description of 4 empirical studies on aesthetics

and IT

3. Discussion


History: History: Emergence of the HCI Emergence of the HCI DisciplineDiscipline

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


Future: The User Experience?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


Studies of Aesthetics of Studies of Aesthetics of Information TechnologyInformation Technology


Study 1 – ATM Layout DesignStudy 1 – ATM Layout Design

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

Tractinsky, CHI ‘97


Study 1 – Cross-Cultural ValidationStudy 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


Example 1Example 1


Example 2Example 2


Results: Japan vs. IsraelResults: Japan vs. Israel

Measures

Correlations with Apparent Usability

K&K Exp. 1 Exp. 2 Exp. 3

Aesthetics .59 .92 .83 .92

Distance .00 .00 -.04 -.13

Keypad Type .73 .67 .75 .76

Grouping .08 -.46 -.53 -.67

Sequence 1 .11 .35 .20 .40

Hand-Domin -.13 .00 -.13 -.20

Sequence 2 -.31 .23 .14 .15

Safety .14 -.02 -.01 -.06


Very interesting … Beautiful = Usable ?


Study 2 – ATM UsageStudy 2 – ATM Usage

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

Tractinsky, Shoval-Katz and Ikar, IwC, 2000


Experimental Design and Pre-Experiment Experimental Design and Pre-Experiment PerceptionsPerceptions

Aesthetic Level

Pre-experimentalPerceivedMeasure

Usability

High Low

High

AestheticsUsabilityInformation N

8.48 (1.25)7.62 (1.53)4.91 (1.48)

21

8.05 (0.94)6.90 (1.55)4.80 (1.99)

20

Medium


5.05 (1.05)5.20 (2.17)5.45 (1.95)

20

4.90 (0.99)3.84 (2.43)5.63 (1.54)

19

Low


2.13 (1.10)4.04 (2.23)5.61 (1.53)

23

2.00 (1.22)3.19 (2.23)6.57 (1.43)

21


CorrelationsCorrelationsPre-

UsabilityPre-

InformationPost-

AestheticsPost-

UsabilityPost-

InformationPost-

Satisfaction

Pre-Aesthetics .66* -.26* .62* .50* -.14 .48*

Pre-Usability -- -.18 .52* .48* -.11 .48*

Pre-Information -- -.03 .11 .63* .00

Post- Aesthetics -- .71* -.02 .71*

Post-Usability -- -.01 .87*

Post-Information -- -.10

* 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).

Post-experimental perceptions of Post-experimental perceptions of usability and aestheticsusability and aesthetics

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

6

6.5

7

7.5

8

High-Aesthetics Med-Aesthetics Low-Aesthetics

Perceived AestheticsHigh-Usability

Perceived AestheticsLow-Usability

Perceived UsabilityHigh-Usability

Perceived UsabilityLow-Usability

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.

MANCOVAMANCOVAFactor Dependent Variable (Post-

Experimental Perceived Measures)

Univariate F (df)

Stepdown F (df)

1. Covariate (Pre-exp. Perceived

Usability)

UsabilityAesthetics

SatisfactionA. of Information

7.64* (1, 117)7.76* (1, 117)7.02* (1, 117)0.16 (1, 117)

7.64* (1, 117)2.04 (1, 116)0.10 (1, 115)0.37 (1, 114)

2. Aesthetics

UsabilityAesthetics


4.75* (2, 117)9.73** (2, 117)4.88* (2, 117)0.92 (2, 117)

4.75* (2, 117)4.49* (2, 116)0.06 (2, 115)1.22 (2, 114)

3. Usability

UsabilityAesthetics


1.38 (1, 117)1.17 (1, 117)2.92 (1, 117)0.04 (1, 117)

1.38 (1, 117)0.25 (1, 116)1.47 (1, 115)0.01 (1, 114)

4. Interaction (Aesthetics by

Usability)

UsabilityAesthetics


0.66 (2, 117)0.73 (2, 117)0.94 (2, 117)0.01 (2, 117)

0.66 (2, 117)0.31 (2, 116)1.58 (2, 115)0.06 (2, 114)

* 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.


Study 3 - Developing a Measurement Study 3 - Developing a Measurement Instrument for the Evaluation of Web-Instrument for the Evaluation of Web-site Aestheticssite 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


ExperimentsExperiments

Experiment 1 – 125 students, http://www.times.com Experiment 2 – 212 students, http://www.gap.com ,

http://www.macys.com Experiment 3 - 145 students, http://www.hashulcan.co.il Experiment 4 - 384 users, various sites


Classical Aesthetics (α=.86)Aesthetic designPleasant designClear design #

Clean designSymmetric design

Expressive Aesthetics (α=.86)Creative designFascinating designUse of special effectsOriginal designSophisticated design

Usability (α=.95)Convenient useEasy orientationEasy to useEasy to navigateClear design #

.78

.40

.63

Aesthetic Dimensions of Web sites Aesthetic Dimensions of Web sites (Exp. 4, cross-validation)(Exp. 4, cross-validation)

χ2 (df=158)= 259.12

p= .000RMSEA = .058

TLI = .955CFI = .962IFI = .963

SRMR = .061


Study 4 - Skin PreferencesStudy 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


Application: Microsoft’s Media Player


ProcedureProcedure

Evaluate the default interface + 11 skinsEvaluate the default interface + 11 skins

Compare the default MP to two chosen Compare the default MP to two chosen skins; rate each on 15 itemsskins; rate each on 15 items

Make a final choice; state the reasonsMake a final choice; state the reasons


Ratings of the Default and the 2 choicesRatings of the Default and the 2 choices

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

easy

to le

arn

conve

nien

t to

use

clea

r func

tional

ity

sim

ple des

ign

artis

tic

beautif

ul

crea

tive

adm

iratio

n

positi

ve a

ssoci

atio

n

desira

ble im

age

repre

sent

like

able

thin

gs

fits

perso

nality

positi

ve m

essa

ge

pleasu

rabl

e us

e

gener

al s

atis

fact

ion

Default

Choice 1

Choice 2

ItemsFactor 1

(Aesthetics)Factor 2

(Symbolism)Factor 3

(Usability)

Artistic design .877 .314 -.036

Creative design .860 .390 -.031

Admirable design .819 .445 -.061

Beautiful design .727 .462 .129

Positive message about user .067 .862 .122

Communicates desirable image .433 .828 .069

Represents likeable things .525 .757 .020

Creates positive associations .319 .747 .282

Fits personality .423 .743 .113

Simple design -.747 -.034 .295

Convenient to use -.013 .144 .924

Easy to learn -.032 .112 .924

Clear functionality -.137 .086 .834

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


Usability Aesthetics Symbolism

Usability (.89)

Aesthetics .03 (.95)

Symbolism .21* .72* (.92)

# of Items 3 4 5

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


Regression AnalysisRegression Analysis

Independent Variable

DV Adj. R2 Usability Aesthetics Symbolism

Satisfying Experience

.68 .56** .38** .23**

Pleasant Experience

.58 .43** .43** .22*

* p < .01, ** p<.001Table 3: Adjusted R2 and standardized regression coefficients of the three skin aspects regressed on satisfying experience and pleasant experience.

Open-ended Responses Open-ended Responses Coded by two independent judgesCoded by two independent judges

General Question*

Kappa = .815

Choice Question#

Kappa = .823

Usability 77 (57.4%) 53 (45.3%)

Aesthetics 19 (14.2%) 46 (39.3%)

Symbolism 19 (14.2%) 6 (5.1%)

Other 19 (14.2%) 12 (10.3%)

Overall 134 (100%) 117 (100%)

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


Final ChoiceFinal Choice

80% chose an alternative skin80% chose an alternative skin


Vitruvian Principles of Architecture Vitruvian Principles of Architecture

FirmitasStrengthDurabilityStability

UtilitasUtilityConvenience

VenustasBeautyGrace


Why aesthetics matters?Why aesthetics matters?


Why aesthetics matters?Why aesthetics matters?

Level of performance exceeds most users’ Level of performance exceeds most users’ needsneeds

Aesthetically-based valuations are Aesthetically-based valuations are immediate and hard to overcomeimmediate and hard to overcome

Aesthetics satisfies basic human needs.Aesthetics satisfies basic human needs. Like it or not, it’s here to stay …Like it or not, it’s here to stay …


ConclusionsConclusions

Relevant research areaRelevant research area Research is only at the beginning – Research is only at the beginning –

needs replication and validationneeds replication and validation Areas of extensionAreas of extension Multifaceted research – needs multiple Multifaceted research – needs multiple

approaches, visions, methodologiesapproaches, visions, methodologies More food for thought ….More food for thought ….


An alternative (tentative) model An alternative (tentative) model of IT adoptionof IT adoption

Emotion Cognition

ExpressiveAesthetics

ClassicAesthetics

Usability(EOU)

Adoption

Symbolism Usefulness


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


Source: Norman (1998)


Stimuli and MeasuresStimuli and Measures

Measures

Distance

Keypad Type

Grouping

Sequence 1

Hand-Domin

Sequence 2

Safety

Aesthetics


Source: D. Norman, Emotional Design (2004)

Aesthetics

Usability

Symbolism


A Framework for the Study of A Framework for the Study of Aesthetics in Information Systems?Aesthetics in Information Systems?

IT Factors

Aesthetic Processes: Cognition,

Affect

Relations to Other Variables:

Perceptions, Attitudes,

Performance, Satisfaction

Moderators: System Type,

Context, Culture, Personality

Methodological Issues:Exploring the black box

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