Critical factors for the aesthetic fidelity of web pages: Empirical studies with professional web designers and users

Recent advances of the broadband Internet and multimedia contents let web users demand from web pages not only cognitive usability but also appropriate feelings. At the same time, web designers also want to use web pages not just for conveying information but also for affecting users' impressions. However, despite users' needs and designers' desires, users do not always experience the same kinds of impressions that designers intended to convey through their web pages. The main goal of this paper is to identify critical factors that are closely related to the aesthetic fidelity of web pages, which is defined as the degree to which users feel the target impressions intended by designers. In order to achieve our goal, we have conducted three consecutive studies: an exploratory study with web users, a longitudinal experiment with professional web designers, and finally an online survey with web users. The results from the three studies indicated that the variability of user perception and appropriateness of visual elements were closely related to the aesthetic fidelity of web pages, whereas reliability of aesthetic dimensions was not. This paper ends with the limitations and implications of the study results.