Users' perceptions of usability and aesthetics as criteria of pre- and post-use preferences

Abstract

This study focuses on a better understanding of user preferences based on perceived usability and perceived aesthetics. For this, previous studies on the relationships among perceived usability, perceived aesthetics, user performance and user preference are reviewed with the consideration of occurrence of actual use, and their findings are summarised and analysed in terms of relationships of interest, variable measurements, experimental domains, participant types, usability/aesthetics manipulations, and performance measures. The study also considers possible reasons of conflicting findings for the relationship between perceived usability and perceived aesthetics after actual use. A conceptual model for user preferences is constructed to show the processes of users' preference-making before and during/after actual use and to emphasise mutual influences and feedback loops in user experience. Finally, several suggestions for future research are made to confirm or clarify existing findings by considering various influential factors. [Received: 09 October 2009; Accepted: 21 July 2010]