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ONLY SCREEN DEEP? EVALUATING AESTHETICS, USABILITY, AND SATISFACTION IN INFORMATIONAL WEBSITES

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Date Issued:
2005
Abstract/Description:
This thesis explores the role aesthetics plays in informational websites. In commercial interfaces, aesthetics (the perceived visual appeal and appropriateness of an object) has shown to correlate positively with many aspects of usability and emotional satisfaction. This thesis examines whether aesthetics has similar positive correlations in informational websites. Heuristics or guidelines for evaluating informational websites are developed based on empirical research and practitioner expertise. Categories for heuristic evaluation include usability, credibility, visual clarity, visual richness, and emotional satisfaction. A class of graduate students browsed three academic websites, evaluated them, and critiqued the heuristics. Results indicate that aesthetics does correlate with overall impression, usability, satisfaction, and credibility. The data also suggests that there are two dimensions of aesthetics: visual richness and visual clarity. Overall impression correlated with the average of all categories. The heuristics used in this pilot study are now ready to be tested on a larger population.
Title: ONLY SCREEN DEEP? EVALUATING AESTHETICS, USABILITY, AND SATISFACTION IN INFORMATIONAL WEBSITES.
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Name(s): Avery, Carrie, Author
Saari Kitalong, Karla, Committee Chair
University of Central Florida, Degree Grantor
Type of Resource: text
Date Issued: 2005
Publisher: University of Central Florida
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: This thesis explores the role aesthetics plays in informational websites. In commercial interfaces, aesthetics (the perceived visual appeal and appropriateness of an object) has shown to correlate positively with many aspects of usability and emotional satisfaction. This thesis examines whether aesthetics has similar positive correlations in informational websites. Heuristics or guidelines for evaluating informational websites are developed based on empirical research and practitioner expertise. Categories for heuristic evaluation include usability, credibility, visual clarity, visual richness, and emotional satisfaction. A class of graduate students browsed three academic websites, evaluated them, and critiqued the heuristics. Results indicate that aesthetics does correlate with overall impression, usability, satisfaction, and credibility. The data also suggests that there are two dimensions of aesthetics: visual richness and visual clarity. Overall impression correlated with the average of all categories. The heuristics used in this pilot study are now ready to be tested on a larger population.
Identifier: CFE0000465 (IID), ucf:46412 (fedora)
Note(s): 2005-05-01
M.A.
Arts and Sciences, Department of English
Masters
This record was generated from author submitted information.
Subject(s): aesthetics
satisfaction
emotion
usability
credibility
heuristics
web design
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000465
Restrictions on Access: campus 2007-01-31
Host Institution: UCF

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