How to measure an aesthetic value?
Comparative analysis of diverse illustration styles
Imagine — you have two illustrations with the same meaning but different style at your disposal and you have to decide which one is better. How would you do it? Do you decide by yourself or by user’s opinion? And even if you include users in the process, how would you interpret their decisions? Can You imagine coming to a stakeholders and telling them that based on user feedback they have to make changes that will require a large investment? Of course — they will want to know the reasons. Why? How did you ask? Why were these results? How do I know that such a method is valid? Well … congratulations, here you have an answer!
Me and my colleague Anna Kötelesová created - what we called - a comparative analysis of diverse illustration styles as a UX research method in visual design testing. Our article proposes a procedure for UX research of visual design through the combined method of comparative analysis and desirability study. We began with theoretical foundations of visual design research. We continue with description of the case study of comparative analysis that was realized by the Unified design system, Experience Lab & Research, Tatra Bank, a.s. During preliminary research we defined parameters for measuring and interpretation of the results of UX testing. Our main output is a methodological scheme of research of visual design. We combined a comparative analysis of two styles of visual design, and desirability testing, which in our case study is represented by the method of structured word choices. With our method we generated quantifiable parameters suitable for application in the following steps of the UX process.
Considering that the styles of visual design that we tested are part of an unpublished campaign, due to Confidentiality laws we are not authorized to publish detailed results. Just for you imagination and better understanding, we had to choose between these designs:
Therefore, we are presenting a guideline for a researchers who may use our research as a reasoning for using described methodology for an analogous case study. Our research can also be used as an example of the desirability case study procedure, which uses specific core brand values in testing.
Why Visual Matter?
Interest in the impact of visual design on social life has become the subject of many studies[1], not only from the position of UX research. Brands have realized the potential of visual methods in recognizing and mapping the social contexts of visual design, allowing them to set CX and UX strategies more sensitively. No commercial or non-commercial industry currently does not use visual information to create and communicate important arguments and designs. The conceptual framework for the analysis of visual expression must therefore be inclusive enough to cover the widest possible range of expressions.
Since visual research itself does not exist as a separate entity within UX research methods, we composed a specific procedure for testing and interpreting the obtained results based on the specified goal of our UX research.
Testing was realized for Raiffeisen Bank International (hereinafter only RBI). The main concern was two styles of illustration that represented two different approaches to Raiffeisen Bank’s brand perception. The main objective was to determine which of the two selected illustration styles evokes deeper associations with the Raiffeisen Bank’s brand among users. During August 2022, we conducted qualitative research using the platform UXTweak as a tool to collect data. Based on previously conducted research on the market coverage of Raiffeisen Bank, we decided to select markets in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. As a sample, we chose users aged 18–65 who have experience with the Raiffeisen Bank’s brand. A total of 127 users participated in the testing, of which 61 belonged to the Slovak market and 66 to the Czech market.
Empirical studies have shown that a visually pleasing product increases customer satisfaction and that a functional design improves the degree of attachment to the product, overall behavioral reactions, and purchase decisions. [2] It has also been proven that visual aesthetics directly affects how the product is evaluated by users. It is the first thing that affects the user, builds understanding of the product and brand, shapes the relationship between the brand and the consumer, and ultimately is a communication channel for specific brand distinction in a crowded market.[3] On those fundaments, we formulated a reasoned basis for visual design testing. Our goal was to create a testing procedure that would empirically demonstrate the degree of association of a specific visual design with the values of RBI, its brand strategy, and concepts of visual identity.
It’s not just theoretical
Visual form is a collective name for a visual configuration that includes shapes, lines, colors, and textures. One does not have to be a trained designer to perceive meaning from visual form. Based on natural cognitive skills, a person can understand the symbolic associations that visual design evokes in him[4]. Any perception of visual design is conditioned by strong subjectivism and individual interpretation of perceived reality. Based on this, it is difficult to define a concept of visual design by one simple definition. Although we are unable to definitively define visual design, we can describe its characteristic features based on functional differentiations. For purpose of our testing, the differentiation is based on the value of visual design for brand and marketing strategies.
UX designers use visual aesthetics as a tool for assessing the attractiveness of a design to ensure that it directly influences user decision-making and behavior. Through visual aesthetics the user perceives not only the ease of use of the product but also associates with it the expectations regarding the durability and innovativeness of the product.[5]
Product design is a combination of art and science, it combines the technological and financial possibilities of the brand with the required emotional footprint. As competitive rivalry intensifies in the market, the solution is to use design as a strategic tool. The power of visual design in marketing strategies has been proven in research and its strong position in gaining a competitive advantage in a saturated market is also confirmed. As an examples we can mention:
- Visual aesthetics evoke a primary reaction in users and shape their overall attitude toward the product[6]
- Visual innovativeness is emphasized as the central focus of the new product[7]
- Visual design can compensate for functional shortcomings of the product[8]
- Users tent to lose motivation towards a new product if the new design is too atypical and if it shifts from the original product design[9]
Baby steps
Our pre-research gold mine was neuroaesthetic research by Anjan Chatterjee[10]. Research has shown that people process visual information in three stages, which are differentiated based on the duration of contact with a visual design that evoke a different cognitive response.
The first stage is visceral, and we are talking here about a primal, subconscious reaction that is biologically determined. We can see its application in different designs for men and women products. This stage is best described by the term gut feeling and in UX research we can find its use in 5-second testing.
The second stage is behavioral, in which cognitive abilities are already involved to a greater extent. Here we can talk about functional value of visual information and the simplest example are pictograms.
The last stage is reflective, which is characterized by high cognitive involvement, in which subjective and socio-cultural interpretations of the observer are combined. This means that in this stage we start to interpret an image based on our social background and cultural context.
Considering the goal of visual design testing, we could derive the neuroaesthetic reaction we expect from users, and then assign specific testing methods to it. The goal of our testing was to determine the degree of association of a specific visual design with how users understand Raiffeisen Bank as a brand. During evaluation of visual design users rely on their own experience with the brand and its perception. Considering that, for testing is not important which illustration is more aesthetically appealing, but which form of visual design is the most understandable for the consumer and thus usable in the cognitive evaluation of the product of a specific brand.[11]
Testing Methods
Our first chosen method was comparative analysis method. It was based on the pragmatic consideration of testing two different styles of visual design. For recapitulation reasons:
In the case of comparative analysis, we expected the problem that research participants are influenced by the order in which they see individual design proposals. Users aspire to evaluate positively the design that they saw first, respectively they tend to rate the second design based on the design they saw first.[12] We eliminated this problem by offering users a simultaneous view of both visual designs. Another problem associated with comparative analysis was that for an ordinary user (in the sense of not a designer) to be able to evaluate two styles of visual design that are related to each other, the differences between them must be significant enough to be noticeable by a lay person.[13]
The comparison was not enough, and we needed to connect the brand values with specific styles of illustrations. One way to test the value of visual design for users is to measure how much response specific designs evoke. To avoid the accumulation of a large number of random answers, we connected the comparative analysis with the method of structured word choices. We provided participants with a list of descriptors that were chosen based on text analysis of reports on RBI’s values, its brand strategy, and concepts of visual identity. Based on the analysis, we selected five key RBI concepts that contained 31 associations. Subsequently, based on content relatedness, we compiled 8 key characteristics that expressed RBI’s brand strategy.
Throughout testing via UXTweak, we added antonyms to selected key characteristics. With this approach, we wanted to determine whether the user will associate a specific style of visual design with the required keywords, or on the contrary, they evaluate a specific style of visual design through terms that do not correlate with the RBI brand. The chosen method provided us with data on whether the target brand attributes are perceived by users and in which specific style of visual design users recognize them.
The obtained results pointed to significant differences in the perception of visual design in the chosen styles of illustrations. Figure 1 shows the levels of association created by selected brand attributes with a specific style of visual design. Even though we cannot publish the specific styles of the tested visual design, nor the specific results or their interpretation, even this partial data shows that the method we have chosen brings relevant, empirical results that we can apply in the following steps of the UX process.
Current limitations and future plans
Our conceptualization of visual design research remains broad despite the methodological steps described above. To be able to support visual design testing more methodologically, it is necessary to continue the UX testing of the visual design. Based on the obtained data, we will be able to specify empirical indicators that can be implemented in UX testing of visual design, as an universal matrix.
Another limitation of the study is the fact that the testing focused only on the style of illustrations, not on whole visual information. This is also related to the fact that our current capabilities allowed us to test the visual design only on two markets. As we stated in the text, based on previous surveys, the examined countries had a strong and stable brand perception, therefore the testing of key aspects was simplified. For subsequent research, it would be interesting to compare the results from markets with a stable perception and markets where the brand is not stably established and where the perception of the brand itself is superficial and primary. The comparison would subsequently show the value shift in specific markets and demonstrate the importance of a systematically built brand strategy.
Although the test results offered relevant data that supported the hypothesized correlation between brand perception and visual associations, in future studies we should focus on demonstrating causal relationships between users’ brand attitudes and their aesthetic evaluation of the illustrations. An ambitious project would be to test how the innovative visual design interacts with the user and in what ways the user reacts to specific sequential visual design innovations.
The result of extended methodological schemes in visual design testing will be the competitive advantage of the brand. Studies configured within the proposed structure will be able to provide normative guidelines for both designers and stakeholders. Accumulated data could be dynamically used in changing market opportunities, with the expected result of long-term competitive advantage.[14]
Conclusion
Visual design is live information that creates the first impression with users, and the degree of their motivation to process the desired information depends on the character of the design. Based on this pluralistic form of perception, we must interpret visual design based on a multidisciplinary context that integrates social sciences, neurosciences, art, but also marketing strategies. Contextual interpretation will subsequently ensure the most adequate implementation of the results of UX research into practice.
Although we did not obtain evidence of an absolute causal relationship between brand perception and subjective aesthetic preferences, we demonstrated that the effect of brand perception on aesthetic evaluation creates a dependent, measurable variable. Therefore, our study fills a gap in the literature and uses the current research results in the fields of UX, visual design testing, and brand management to create a coherent method of testing and interpreting the subjective aesthetic perception of illustrations.
In conclusion, we can summarize that the study contributes to the product design literature in the following ways:
- to the discussion about different approaches for testing the visual design in UX
- to the investigation of the relationship between the current aesthetic perception of the user and the established core values of a specific brand
- to the discussion about the interaction between the brand and users in terms of the content of the communicated information and the subsequent applicability of UX research
In the commercial sector, we encounter a huge number of factors that influence the interpretation of the value of visual design, which makes it very difficult to implement a viable tool to measure its value. If we were able to overcome individual interests and tendentious interpretations in the commercial sphere, it would enable organizations to effectively use visual design for brand and competitiveness needs.[15]
Bibliography
[1] See also: Stephen Spencer, Visual research method in the Social Sciences (London: Routledge, 2011); Gaia Rubera, “Design innovativeness and Product sales’ evolution,” Marketing Science 34, no. 1 (2014); Rupinder Jindal et al., “Dimensions of product design and their impact on Market share,” Journal of Marketing 80, no. 4 (2016); Jung Hwa Hong and Kyung-Ah Byun, “The Effects of Innovative Visual Design on Consumer Attitude,” Australasian Marketing Journal 29, no. 1 (2021).
[2] Rupinder Jindal et al., “Dimensions of product design and their impact on Market share,” Journal of Marketing 80, no. 4 (2016): 73–74, https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.15.0036.
[3] Robert Veryzer Jr. and Wesley Hutchinson. “The Influence of Unity and Prototypicality on Aesthetic Responses to New Product Designs.” Journal of Consumer Research. 24, no. 4 (1998): 376–377, https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/209516.
[4] Mike Zender, “Basic Design Research: Parameters of Visual Form”. Semantic Scholar. Accessed September 15, 2022. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Basic-Design-Research%3A-Parameters-Of-Visual-Form-Zender/cbddbbf112857afe6142e3f2b78ebd667302d84d.
[5] Gaia Rubera, “Design Innovativeness and Product Sales’ Evolution.“ Marketing Science 34, no. 1 (2015): 100, https://www.jstor.org/stable/24544989.
[6] Peter Bloch, Frédéric Brunel, Todd Arnold, “Individual Differences in the Centrality of Visual Product Aesthetics: Concept and Measurement.“ Journal of Consumer Research 29, no. 4 (2003): 553. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/346250.
[7] Jung Hwa Hong and Kyung-Ah Byun, “The Effects of Innovative Visual Design on Consumer Attitude.” Australasian Marketing Journal 29, no. 1 (2021): 33. https://doi.org/10.1177/1839334921998517.
[8] Henrik Hagtvedt, Vanessa Patrick, “Consumer response to Overstyling: Balancing Aesthetics and Functionality in product design.” Psychology & Marketing 31, no. 7 (2014): 519–520, https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20713.
[9] Laura Peracchio and Alice Tybout, “The Moderating Role of Prior Knowledge in Schema-Based Product Evaluation.“ Journal of Consumer Research 23, no. 3 (1996): 183, https://www.jstor.org/stable/2489770.
[10] Anjan Chatterjee, “Neuroaesthetics: A Coming of Age Story.“ Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 23, no. 1 (2011): 55–60, https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1061&context=neuroethics_pubs.
[11] Peter Bloch, “Seeking the Ideal Form: Product Design and Consumer Response,” Journal of Marketing 59, no. 3 (1995): 16–20, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1252116.
[12] Patricia Leavy, Research design — Quantitative, Qualitative, Mixed Methods, Arts-based, and Community-Based participatory research approaches (New York: The Guilford Press, 2017), 214–215.
[13] Sue Walker, “Research in Graphic Design.” The Design Journal. 20, no. 5 (2017): 551, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14606925.2017.1347416.
[14] Ravinda Chitturi, Rajagopal Raghunathan, and Vijay Mahajan, “Form versus Function: How the Intensities of Specific Emotions Evoked in Functional versus Hedonic Trade-Offs Mediate Product Preferences.“ Journal of Marketing Research 44, no. 4 (2007): 702–708. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1509/jmkr.44.4.702.
[15] If you want to know more about desirability studies, see also: Christian Rohrer, “Desirability studies: Measuring Aesthetic response to Visual Designs,” XD Strategy, accessed September 20, 2022, https://www.xdstrategy.com/desirability-studies/.; Joey Benedek and Trish Miner, “Measuring Desirability: New methods for evaluating desirability in a usability lab setting,” Research Gate, accessed September 5, 2022, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228721563_Measuring_Desirability_New_methods_for_evaluating_desirability_in_a_usability_lab_setting.
