The application of preference mapping in aesthetic website evaluation

Abstract

The objective of this study was to apply a technique called preference mapping to the context of aesthetic website evaluation. Preference mapping is a method in which evaluators and stimuli are simultaneously represented in the same multidimensional space. User segmentations and drivers of preference can easily be identified. We argue that this technique is particularly suited for website design evaluation especially for alternative prototype comparisons. The application of this method to an actual dataset resulted in a better understanding of participant preferences that could not be reached through simple comparison of average ratings. © 2011 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing.