Abstract
The importance of web designs for commercial and informational use has been a focus of research for over a decade and a half. At present, findings concerning the influence of news website designs on the perception and recall of information are rather contradictory. This study aims to identify how the basic web designs aesthetically affect users. A total of 214 students from Arab universities were shown three news sites with different designs and asked to complete two tests to determine their levels of perception and recall. The results revealed that interactive sites with multiple aesthetic elements representing the message of the news item enable users to perceive and remember the information better. The findings of this study can be useful in creating news website templates that improve user comprehension and recall.
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Appendix
Appendix
See Fig.
Example of site design for the tests
Examples of survey questions
The first section of the survey:
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“Is the main article of the page dedicated to street music?” (Yes/No)
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“Have you seen more than three people in a photo on a website page?” (Yes/No)
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“Are the theme of music and the theme of vehicles on the site page somehow related?” (Yes/No).
The second section of the survey:
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“Are there other examples of street drummers in Las Vegas suggested in the article?” (Yes/No)
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“Was the latest Ford motorcycle model presented in one of the articles?” (Yes/No)
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“Did the articles cover areas of New York other than Brooklyn? (Yes/No)”.
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Al Said, N., Al-Said, K.M. The effect of visual and informational complexity of news website designs on comprehension and memorization among undergraduate students. AI & Soc 37, 401–409 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-021-01164-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-021-01164-6