The Relation of the Perceptions of Aesthetics and Usability

Abstract

Aesthetics and usability both play critical roles in product design. But how might measurement of these two conceptually-different features of products interfere with one another? The current research study examines the effect of differences in aesthetics on perceived usability. Participants completed three tasks on a simulated website with a low usability interface. One group of participants used an interface with high aesthetics, whereas a second group interacted with an interface with poor aesthetics. Both groups rated the usability and aesthetics of the interface after completing the tasks. The aesthetics manipulation was effective in that the high aesthetics group provided higher ratings on two aesthetics scales than did the low aesthetics group; however, differences in aesthetics had no significant effect on usability as measured by the System Usability Scale (SUS). These findings support the idea that users make independent judgments of usability and aesthetics.