Understanding user preferences based on usability and aesthetics before and after actual use

Designing a highly preferred product or system is a crucial issue for better information-services and product sales. We attempted to understand the process of users’ preference-making based on usability and aesthetics. In the present study, we examined the relationships among usability/aesthetics features, perceived usability/aesthetics, and user preference through an experiment using four simulated systems with different levels of usability and aesthetics. The results showed that, before actual use, user preference was significantly affected by the differences in aesthetics but marginally affected by the differences in usability. On the other hand, after actual use, user preference was significantly influenced by the differences in both usability and aesthetics. Regardless of the occurrence of actual use, user preference was highly correlated with both perceived usability and perceived aesthetics, which were strongly interrelated. Finally, actual use had a significant effect on perceived usability, perceived aesthetics, and user preference. The findings emphasize the importance of considering both perceived usability and perceived aesthetics. They also demonstrate the need for discriminating users’ interactions before and after actual use, in developing a more preferable computer-based application.