research-article

The effect of aesthetically pleasing composition on visual search performance

Authors:

Carolyn Salimun,

Helen C. Purchase,

David R. Simmons,

Stephen BrewsterAuthors Info & Claims

NordiCHI '10: Proceedings of the 6th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction: Extending Boundaries

Pages 422 - 431

https://doi.org/10.1145/1868914.1868963

Published: 16 October 2010 Publication History

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study on the effect of the aesthetic layout properties of a computer interface on visual search performance. Search performance was measured at three levels of layout aesthetics: high, medium, and low. Two types of performance metric were recorded: response time and number of errors. Performance at the three levels of aesthetics was also compared between two search methods (with or without mouse pointing), and related to preference. The findings of the present study indicate that, regardless of search method used, response time (but not errors) was strongly affected by the aesthetics level. There is also a clear relationship between preference and performance when a composite measurement of aesthetics is used, although this does not seem to be due to the influence of individual aesthetic features. Further study is needed to identify other aesthetic factors that influence task performance, and to establish appropriate design guidelines.

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Alves TDias CGonçalves DGama S(2025)Leveraging personality as a proxy of perceived transparency in hierarchical visualizationsVisual Informatics10.1016/j.visinf.2025.01.0029:1(43-57)Online publication date: Mar-2025
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visinf.2025.01.002
Terović AMekterović I(2024)On Improving the Qualitative Features of the User Interface of Mobile Applications Using Machine Learning Methods2024 47th MIPRO ICT and Electronics Convention (MIPRO)10.1109/MIPRO60963.2024.10569276(205-210)Online publication date: 20-May-2024
https://doi.org/10.1109/MIPRO60963.2024.10569276
Zhao XWu Z(2024)Research on the Impact of Mobile Terminal Information Layout on Visual Search-Taking Bookkeeping Application as an ExampleHuman-Centered Design, Operation and Evaluation of Mobile Communications10.1007/978-3-031-60458-4_18(268-281)Online publication date: 1-Jun-2024
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Index Terms

The effect of aesthetically pleasing composition on visual search performance
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Human computer interaction (HCI)
    1. Interaction devices
      1. Touch screens
  2. Interaction design

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cover image ACM Other conferences

NordiCHI '10: Proceedings of the 6th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction: Extending Boundaries

October 2010

889 pages

ISBN:9781605589343

DOI:10.1145/1868914

General Chairs:
Ebba Þóra Hvannberg
University of Iceland, Iceland
,
Marta Kristín Lárusdóttir
Reykjavik University, Iceland
,
Program Chairs:
Ann Blandford
University College London
,
Jan Gulliksen
Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden

Copyright © 2010 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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Reykjavik University
University of Iceland

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SIGCHI: ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

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Published: 16 October 2010

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NordiCHI '10

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NordiCHI '10: 6th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction

October 16 - 20, 2010

Reykjavik, Iceland

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Cited By

Alves TDias CGonçalves DGama S(2025)Leveraging personality as a proxy of perceived transparency in hierarchical visualizationsVisual Informatics10.1016/j.visinf.2025.01.0029:1(43-57)Online publication date: Mar-2025
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visinf.2025.01.002
Terović AMekterović I(2024)On Improving the Qualitative Features of the User Interface of Mobile Applications Using Machine Learning Methods2024 47th MIPRO ICT and Electronics Convention (MIPRO)10.1109/MIPRO60963.2024.10569276(205-210)Online publication date: 20-May-2024
https://doi.org/10.1109/MIPRO60963.2024.10569276
Zhao XWu Z(2024)Research on the Impact of Mobile Terminal Information Layout on Visual Search-Taking Bookkeeping Application as an ExampleHuman-Centered Design, Operation and Evaluation of Mobile Communications10.1007/978-3-031-60458-4_18(268-281)Online publication date: 1-Jun-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-60458-4_18
Perrig SUeffing DOpwis KBrühlmann F(2023)Smartphone app aesthetics influence users' experience and performanceFrontiers in Psychology10.3389/fpsyg.2023.111384214Online publication date: 14-Jun-2023
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1113842
Zen MBurny NVanderdonckt J(2023)A Quality Model-based Approach for Measuring User Interface Aesthetics with GraceProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/35932247:EICS(1-47)Online publication date: 19-Jun-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3593224
Jylhä HHamari J(2021)Demographic factors have little effect on aesthetic perceptions of icons: a study of mobile game iconsInternet Research10.1108/INTR-07-2020-036832:7(87-110)Online publication date: 13-Jul-2021
https://doi.org/10.1108/INTR-07-2020-0368
Reynoso JRomo L(2020)Measuring the Effectiveness of Designing End-User Interfaces Using Design TheoriesInternational Journal of Information Technologies and Systems Approach10.4018/IJITSA.202007010313:2(54-72)Online publication date: 1-Jul-2020
https://doi.org/10.4018/IJITSA.2020070103
Baughan AAugust TYamashita NReinecke KBernhaupt RMueller FVerweij DAndres JMcGrenere JCockburn AAvellino IGoguey ABjørn PZhao SSamson BKocielnik R(2020)Keep it Simple: How Visual Complexity and Preferences Impact Search Efficiency on WebsitesProceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3313831.3376849(1-10)Online publication date: 21-Apr-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3313831.3376849
Jylhä HHamari J(2020)Development of measurement instrument for visual qualities of graphical user interface elements (VISQUAL): a test in the context of mobile game iconsUser Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction10.1007/s11257-020-09263-7Online publication date: 17-May-2020
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11257-020-09263-7
Thielsch MHaines RFlacke L(2019)Experimental investigation on the effects of website aesthetics on user performance in different virtual tasksPeerJ10.7717/peerj.65167(e6516)Online publication date: 22-Feb-2019
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6516
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