A study of affective meanings predicting aesthetic preferences of interactive skins

Abstract

This study was to explore the affective qualities which influence subjects' aesthetic preferences. Forty-six subjects assessed sixteen skins on an aesthetic preference scale and eleven affective meaning scales. The aesthetic preference was regarded as a dependent variable; the eleven affective meanings were independent variables. The Stepwise Regression Analysis was performed. The result showed that six affective meanings: “exquisite”, “original”, “strong”, “childlike”, “intense” and “pure” entered the model. Besides, “exquisite”, was the most important affective quality in judgment of aesthetic preferences. It implied that designers had to create the interactive interfaces with an “exquisite” affective quality to please users' aesthetic affects. Furthermore, the other five affective meanings which were not selected into the model were called LoSPA affective meanings. It indicated that subjects had different aesthetic preference levels for skins evoking the affective meaning in LoSPA. It implied that a specific user group would prefer the skins evoking the affective meaning.