The influence of hedonic quality on the attractiveness of user interfaces of business management software

Abstract

Recent work concerning user satisfaction shows that hedonic aspects of a user interface influence the perceived usability and attractiveness of the product. We investigate if these results can also be applied to business management software. In addition, we try to clarify the impact of hedonic aspects on user preference for different user interfaces. In an empirical study subjects judged three different user interfaces for the same business task with respect to their attractiveness by filling out the AttrakDiff2 questionnaire (Hassenzahl, M., Burmester, M., Koller, F., 2003. AttrakDiff: Ein Fragebogen zur Messung wahrgenommener hedonischer und pragmatischer Qualität. [AttrakDiff: A questionnaire for the measurement of perceived hedonic and pragmatic quality]. In: J. Ziegler and G. Szwillus (Eds.), Mensch and Computer 2003: Interaktion in Bewegung, 187-196. Stuttgart, Leipzig: B.G. Teubner). The subjects ranked the interfaces also by personal preference. The results show that pragmatic and hedonic qualities have an impact on attractiveness. In addition, the more attractive an interface is the higher is the preference of subjects for this interface. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.