The influence of product aesthetics and usability over the course of time: a longitudinal field experiment

Abstract

A longitudinal field experiment was carried out over a period of two weeks to examine the influence of product aesthetics and inherent product usability. A 2 x 2 x 3 mixed design was used in the study, with product aesthetics (high / low) and usability (high / low) being manipulated as between-subjects variables and exposure time as a repeated-measures variable (3 levels). A sample of 60 mobile phone users was tested during a multiple-session usability test. A range of outcome variables was measured, including performance, perceived usability, perceived aesthetics, and emotion. A major finding was that the positive effect of an aesthetically appealing product on perceived usability, reported in many previous studies, began to wane with increasing exposure time. The data provided similar evidence for emotion, which also showed changes as a function of exposure time. The study has methodological implications for the future design of usability tests, notably suggesting the need for longitudinal approaches in usability research.Keywords: usability; aesthetics; longitudinal evaluation; field study; user experience Practitioner SummaryThis study indicates that product aesthetics influences perceived usability considerably in one-off usability tests but this influence wanes over time. When completing a usability test it is therefore advisable to adopt a longitudinal multiple-session approach to reduce the possibly undesirable influence of aesthetics on usability ratings.

What makes icons appealing? The role of processing fluency in predicting icon appeal in different task contexts

“…It may be particularly useful when other information is absent and when quick decisions require frugal automatic, rather than effortful, processing (Hertwig et al, 2008;Marewski & Schooler, 2011). Research to date suggests that a range of other factors are likely to come into play when individuals interact with an interface over time when more considered and conscious decision-making takes place (see Hartmann et al, 2008;Sonderegger & Sauer, 2010;Sonderegger et al, 2012;Thielsch et al, 2013). Thielsch and colleagues (2013) suggest the elaboration likelihood model (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986;Petty & Briñol, 2012 in which choices are made on the basis of a combination of lowinvolvement processing (relying on cue-based heuristic processing) and high-involvement processing involving high cognitive processes and consideration of the strength of arguments for and against a particular choice.…”

The Interplay between Usability and Aesthetics: More Evidence for the “What Is Usable Is Beautiful” Notion

“…While some findings supported Advances in Human-Computer Interaction 3 the "what is beautiful is usable" hypothesis [8,[14][15][16], others did not [10,17,18]. Remarkably, Ben-Bassat et al [14], Lee and Koubek [15], and Tuch et al [10] found perceived beauty to be affected by manipulated usability.…”

“…Second, in combination, both objective usability and aesthetic contribute to a positive perception of the overall appeal of a product and provide the user with the opportunity to express a desirable identity to others (HQI). Further research should take a longitudinal perspective on this issue and examine whether these effects also persist over time (see [17]). …”

“…Moreover, Lee and Koubek [15] found a significant effect of aesthetics, but not for the usability factor, on user preference before actual use while preference for the website after use was significantly affected by both factors. Finally, Sonderegger and Sauer [16] reported a positive effect of manipulated visual appearance of a mobile phone on its perceived usability, while Sonderegger et al [17] found in a longitudinal field experiment that the positive effect of manipulated aesthetics of a mobile phone on its perceived usability wanes over time.…”

Smart garments -- the issue of usability and aesthetics

“…Furthermore, some studies also indicated that design aesthetics influence other outcome measures of usability tests such as user behavior and user emotions (c.f. [29,28]). Such findings indicate that in a usability test it is highly probable that the different outcome measures are severely biased by the aesthetical refinement of the product prototype.…”