The influence of aesthetics on the learnability and memorability of website interfaces

Issues related to user interface appearance are becoming more important since, increasingly, users expect interfaces to be attractive as well as functional. Application developers have responded to this expectation, and the beauty of interfaces has increased over the years. Is interface beauty good or bad for usability? Research has shown that interface beauty influences users' perceptions of the application however, research into other areas of usability has been inconclusive. One area of usability that has not been studied is the influence of interface aesthetics on learning. This dissertation investigated whether the acquisition and retention of the skill of interacting with an interface is in uenced by the beauty of that interface.Multiple aesthetic variations of a web-based travel planning application were created, and participants performed trip planning activities using the website. The experiment had learning and memory phases, during which the performance of the participants was monitored. The interaction performance metrics were used to evaluate whether interface aesthetic changes influenced interaction skill acquisition and retention.This research extends experimental research in aesthetics and interaction in three ways: (1) It is the first study to use a large-scale website that more accurately represents a "real world" application (2) It provides a longitudinal view of website interaction and (3) It uses quantitative data collection and analysis methods to study the influence of aesthetics on interaction.The results presented here show that there was not an observable learning curve over time and that interface aesthetics changes did not have a significant influence on user performance. This study concludes that the influence aesthetics has on perceived usability does not result in an influence on experienced usability.