Effects of Perceived Usability and Aesthetics on Emotional Responses in Different Contexts of Use

In understanding user experience issues, it is necessary to consider contextual features in user interaction with an application. The present study aims to examine the differences among applications with difference contexts of use (perceived type: interaction styles based on use purposes) in terms of the relationships between user perception (perceived usability and perceived aesthetics) and emotion (valence and arousal). A study was performed using 15 existing websites from various domains. From the responses of participants, the relationships between perceived usability and emotional valence were found to differ according to perceived type, but those between perceived aesthetics and emotional valence were not. On the other hand, sufficient reliability for the arousal items was not secured. Through the meaningful categorization of arousal into two factors (negative and positive), significant differences in the relationships between perceived usability/aesthetics and emotional arousal could be found. Implications of the findings are discussed in the connection of contextual/design features, perceptual characteristics, and emotional responses in the development of interactive applications.