Design entropy: A new approach for evaluating user experience in user interface design

Abstract

This paper reports on an experimental study on user interface in universal smart TV remote controls to measure the influence of information overload on user experience. Based on cognitive psychology and human factors, we proposed a design entropy model (DEM). DEM is measurement of the degree of information chaos in a user interface, which contains the “appearance design entropy (ADE)” and the “interaction design entropy (IDE).” To validate the model, we designed an experimental study, 82 college students participate in the experiment and the experiment material were three universal smart TV remote controls. The results showed that: (a) design entropy have a significant correlation with user experience; (b) high design entropy caused more disorder, thus significantly decreasing user experience; (c) low entropy design caused more order, thus significantly increasing user experience, which further verifies the validity of the DEM.