Effects of Aesthetics and Playfulness on Web Usability – An empirical investigation

Limited empirical research exists on the explicit relevance of hedonic dimensions (aesthetics and playfulness) of humancomputer interaction design to usability. This research aims to determine the effects of color temperature on the perceptions of websites aesthetics, playfulness, and in turn usability. A Partial Least Squares (PLS) analysis of data collected from 328 participants in a four-group between-subject research design involving the use of a mock hotel website offered support for all nine hypotheses proposed. ‘Cooler’ colors (e.g. blue) were found to favorably impact perceptions of classical aesthetics, which in turn influenced perceptions of efficiency positively, while also correlating with perceptions of expressive aesthetics. The latter, on the other hand, were affected favorably by warmer colors (e.g. red), and had a positive effect on perceptions of playfulness. In line with prior usability studies, positive relationships between efficiency and effectiveness respectively and satisfaction with the Website were supported, and by considering the shown positive relationship between playfulness and satisfaction 60% of the variance in satisfaction was explained. Implications for theory and practice are also discussed