research-article

Visual complexity and aesthetic perception of web pages

Authors:

Eleni Michailidou,

Sean BechhoferAuthors Info & Claims

SIGDOC '08: Proceedings of the 26th annual ACM international conference on Design of communication

Pages 215 - 224

https://doi.org/10.1145/1456536.1456581

Published: 22 September 2008 Publication History

Abstract

The visual appearance of a Web page influences the way a user will interact with the page. Web page structural elements (such as text, tables, links, and images) and their characteristics (such as colour and size) are used to determine the visual presentation and complexity level of a Web page. We theorise that by understanding a user's visual and aesthetic perception of a Web page we can understand the cognitive effort required for interaction with that page. This paper describes an investigation into user perception of the visual complexity and aesthetic appearance of Web pages. Results show a strong and high correlation between users' perception of visual complexity, structural elements (links, images, words and sections) and aesthetic appearance (organisation, clearness, cleanliness, interestingness and beautifulness) of a Web page. We argue that the results should be used as a further understanding for keeping the balance between aesthetic appearance of a Web page and its visual complexity. Web pages will then be designed that can still be aesthetically attractive but also usable and not overloaded with information for the users.

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https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-5395-0.ch009
Zhang RSon O(2025)A Measurement Model for Visual Complexity in HCI: Focusing on Visual Elements in Mobile GUI DesignElectronics10.3390/electronics1405094214:5(942)Online publication date: 27-Feb-2025
https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics14050942
Lee LLam KHui P(2025)Exploring user engagement by diagnosing visual guides in onboarding screens with linear regression and XGBoostDisplays10.1016/j.displa.2025.10297587(102975)Online publication date: Apr-2025
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Index Terms

Visual complexity and aesthetic perception of web pages
1. Applied computing
  1. Document management and text processing
    1. Document preparation
      1. Multi / mixed media creation
2. Human-centered computing
  1. Human computer interaction (HCI)
    1. Interaction paradigms
      1. Hypertext / hypermedia

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Published In

cover image ACM Conferences

SIGDOC '08: Proceedings of the 26th annual ACM international conference on Design of communication

September 2008

303 pages

ISBN:9781605580838

DOI:10.1145/1456536

General Chairs:
Henrique O'Neill
ISCTE, Lisboa, Portugal
,
Manuela Aparicio
ISCTE, Lisboa, Portugal
,
Program Chairs:
Carlos J. Costa
ISCTE, Lisboa, Portugal
,
Aristidis Protopsaltis
City University, London, UK

Copyright © 2008 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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SIGDOC: ACM Special Interest Group for Design of Communications

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 22 September 2008

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SIGDOC '08

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SIGDOC

SIGDOC '08: The 26th ACM International Conference on Design of Communication

September 22 - 24, 2008

Lisbon, Portugal

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Overall Acceptance Rate 355 of 582 submissions, 61%

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https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-5395-0.ch009
Zhang RSon O(2025)A Measurement Model for Visual Complexity in HCI: Focusing on Visual Elements in Mobile GUI DesignElectronics10.3390/electronics1405094214:5(942)Online publication date: 27-Feb-2025
https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics14050942
Lee LLam KHui P(2025)Exploring user engagement by diagnosing visual guides in onboarding screens with linear regression and XGBoostDisplays10.1016/j.displa.2025.10297587(102975)Online publication date: Apr-2025
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.displa.2025.102975
Wang CMiniukovich ARen X(2024)An interpretable metric of visual aesthetics for GUI designBehaviour & Information Technology10.1080/0144929X.2024.232503044:3(508-522)Online publication date: 29-Feb-2024
https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2024.2325030
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Long DChen R(2024)Cognitive capacity and aesthetics: the influence of visual working memory on landscape ink painting preferenceThe Visual Computer10.1007/s00371-024-03405-341:4(2143-2156)Online publication date: 3-May-2024
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Stoesz BNiknam M(2023)Student Perceptions of the Visual Design of Learning Management SystemsPerceptions des étudiants à l'égard de la conception visuelle des systèmes de gestion de l'apprentissageCanadian Journal of Learning and Technology10.21432/cjlt2815448:3(1-22)Online publication date: 20-Apr-2023
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