Relationship Between Visual Complexity and Aesthetics of Webpages

Substantial HCI research investigated the relationship between webpage complexity and aesthetics, but without a definitive conclusion. Some research showed an inverse linear correlation, some other showed an inverted u-shaped curve, while the rest showed no relationship at all. Such a lack of clarity complicates hypothesis formulation and result interpretation for future research, and lowers the reliability and generalizability of potential advice for Web design practice. We re-collected complexity and aesthetics ratings for five datasets previously used in webpage aesthetics and complexity research. The results were mixed, but suggested an inverse linear relationship with a weaker u-shaped sub-component. A subsequent visual inspection of revealed several confounding factors that may have led to the mixed results, including some webpages looking broken or archaic. The second data collection showed that accounting for these factors generally eliminates the u-shaped tendency of the complexity-aesthetics relationship, at least, for a relatively homogeneous sample of English-speaking participants.