The Influence of Aesthetic and Usability Web Design Elements on Viewing Patterns and User Response: An Eye-tracking Study

Abstract

The merging of usability and aesthetics is one of the more promising contemporary trends in user interface research. This focus on total user experience rather than a subset of user interaction necessitates more holistic examinations of web interfaces and user response. To this end, a study examining user response to a variety of usability and aesthetic web interface elements was conducted. Eye tracking was used to measure participant fixation on individual interface elements. These data were examined in order to expand the field's understanding of how usability and aesthetics influence user response to web sites. Significant effects were found for specific usability and aesthetic elements, including use-oriented elements such as search boxes and more abstract elements such as expressive aesthetic items. Based on these results, implications for future research and theory are offered.