Demographic factors have little effect on aesthetic perceptions of icons: a study of mobile game icons

Abstract

PurposeCustomization by segmenting within human–computer interaction is an emerging phenomenon. Appealing graphical elements that cater to user needs are considered progressively important, as the way a graphic is visually represented can greatly contribute to the interaction. However, aesthetic perceptions are subjective and may differ by target group. Understanding variations in user perceptions may aid in design processes; therefore, we set out to investigate the effects of demographic differences relating to perceptions of graphical user interface (GUI) element (i.e. game app icon) aesthetics.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employed a vignette experiment with random participant (n = 513) assignment to evaluate 4 icons from a total of 68 pre-selected mobile game icons using semantic differential scales. This resulted in a total of 2052 individual icon evaluations. Regression analyses were performed with the effects of age, gender and time using graphical user interfaces (i.e. app stores) and the interactions of these variables relating to perceptions of GUI element aesthetics.FindingsThe results indicate that, overall, demographic factors have relatively little effect on how icons are perceived. Significant relations suggest that experienced users, younger audiences and women are more critical in their perception of aesthetic excellence, and that perceptions change for younger women. The implications of the findings are discussed via adaptive decision-making theory.Originality/valueIn the context of graphical user interface element aesthetics, demographic differences have received minimal attention as moderating variables regardless of their relevance in design and development. Hence, it merits further research.

The Evaluation of Preference and Perceived Quality of Health Communication Icons Associated with COVID-19 Prevention Measures

“…The findings of this study can be utilized as the basis for redesigning icons, particularly for icons related to COVID-19 prevention measures [48]. Furthermore, the approach can also be applied and extended for evaluating other medical icons [49,50], safety icons, disaster-related prevention icons [51], transportation-related icons [52,53], and even entertainment-related icons [54][55][56][57][58].…”

Construction and visual expression of visual aesthetic elements based on VR technology

“…Literature [14] considers aesthetic elements as a kind of visual sign, and their study of architectural design in the Dutch East Indies found that aesthetic visual signs have a certain potential and hierarchical structure, which collectively contribute to the diversity of aesthetic elements of local public architectural design in the process of dynamic development of the place. Literature [15] identified HCI as an emerging aesthetic element that enhances users' aesthetic perceptions, and in their survey, HCI was found to be more important in the perception of aesthetic excellence among younger groups and women. Literature [16] evaluated visual aesthetics based on self-supervised feature learning; they designed two new interfaces to recognize the type and parameters of an image, built a layer of linear classifiers for evaluating the performance of binary aesthetic classification in an image, and conducted quantitative experiments on three benchmark datasets to extract the perceptual features of aesthetic elements of an image.…”

Are Aesthetic Preferences Affected by Gender and Age Differences?

“…(Bloch, 1995). Several aspects of aesthetics such as works of art (Salkind & Salkind, 1997), moderns work of art (Silvia, 2005), shape of product design (Veryzer, 1993), perception of shape (Zhang, Feick, & Price, 2006), user experience (Sarsam & Al-Samarraie, 2018), and mobile game icons (Jylhä & Hamari, 2021) have been studied accordingly. Research on aesthetic perceptions toward demographic differences has been explored recently (Oyibo & Vassileva, 2018).…”