The influence of aesthetics in usability testing

Abstract

An experimental study examined whether the effects of aesthetic appeal on usability test outcomes are moderated by usage domain. The aesthetic appeal of a cell phone was experimentally manipulated in both home- and work-based usage domains. The two usage domains were modeled in a usability laboratory. 60 participants completed a series of typical cell phone user tasks. Dependent measures such as performance, perceived usability, and emotion were taken. The results showed that aesthetic appeal had a positive effect on perceived usability but a negative effect on performance. The effects of aesthetic appeal on usability test outcomes were not moderated by usage domain. The results of this study imply that it may be sufficient to test dual-domain products in only one of their usage domains.