Abstract
The current studies examined the effect of aesthetic appeal on performance. According to one hypothesis, appeal would lead to overall decrements or enhancements in performance [e.g. Sonderegger & Sauer, (Applied Ergonomics, 41, 403–410, 2010)]. Alternatively, appeal might influence performance only in problem situations, such as when the task is difficult [e.g. Norman, (2004)]. The predictions of these hypotheses were examined in the context of an icon search-and-localisation task. Icons were used because they are well-defined stimuli and pervasive to modern everyday life. When search was made difficult using visually complex stimuli (Experiment 1), or abstract and unfamiliar stimuli (Experiment 2), icons that were appealing were found more quickly than their unappealing counterparts. These findings show that in a low-level visual processing task, with demand characteristics related to appeal eliminated, appeal can influence performance, especially under duress.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.3758/s13423-014-0794-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Can visual aesthetic appeal influence task performance? This is an intriguing question with potentially far-reaching practical and theoretical implications (e.g. Norman, 2004)
In two experiments we examined whether visual aesthetic appeal could affect the efficiency with which users find icons on displays
Forty icons that allowed the orthogonal control of rated appeal and rated visual complexity were selected from the icon corpus, leading to four unique Icon Types: appealing complex, appealing simple, unappealing complex, and unappealing simple (Fig. 1)
Summary
Can visual aesthetic appeal influence task performance? This is an intriguing question with potentially far-reaching practical and theoretical implications (e.g. Norman, 2004). Can visual aesthetic appeal influence task performance? The handful of studies examining whether visual aesthetic appeal might influence performance has yielded mixed support for this notion. Some studies have found no effect of stimulus appeal on task performance Moshagen et al, 2009; Sonderegger & Sauer, 2009). Positive evidence suggests that appealing stimuli can increase performance efficiency Moshagen et al, 2009; Sonderegger & Sauer, 2010) and perseverance with the task (e.g. Nakarada-Kordich & Lobb, 2005). Decreased performance efficiency for appealing stimuli has sometimes been reported Ben-Bassat et al, 2006; Meyer, Shinar, & Leiser, 1997; Tufte, 1983; Sauer & Sonderegger, 2009; 2011) Decreased performance efficiency for appealing stimuli has sometimes been reported (e.g. Ben-Bassat et al, 2006; Meyer, Shinar, & Leiser, 1997; Tufte, 1983; Sauer & Sonderegger, 2009; 2011)
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