PAGE\*MERGEFORMAT31TheimpactofcolouronWebsiteappealandusers’cognitiveprocessesNathalieBonnardel,AnniePiolatLudovic,LeBigotAbstract:Oneofthechallengestodayinhuman–computerinteractionistodesignsystemsthatarenotonlyusablebutalsoappealingtousers.Inordertocontributetomeetthischallenge,ourgeneralobjectiveinthepresentstudywastoenhancecurrentunderstandingoftheperceptualfeaturesthatfavourusers’interactionswithWebsites.Thisisaparticularlyimportantissue,asusers’firstimpressionswhentheylandonasitedeterminewhetherornottheystayonit.Weconductedtwoexperimentalstudies,focusingononespecificperceptualfeature:Websitecolour.Thefirststudyinvestigateddesigners’andusers’preferredcoloursforaWebhomepage.Althoughresearchersgenerallyflagupdifferencesbetweendesignersandusers,wefoundthatthelatteralsohadseveralfavouritecoloursincommon.Onthebasisoftheseinitialresults,threecolourswereselectedforasecondstudyexploringcolourinrelationtoanentireWebsite.Themainoriginalityofthissecondstudylaysinthefactthatweusedbothsubjectiveandobjectivemeasurementstogaugetheimpactofcolour,analyzingnotonlyusers’judgmentsbutalsotheirWebsitenavigationandtheitemsofinformationtheymemorized.ResultsofthissecondstudyshowedthatcolourswereadeterminingfactorinthewaythatusersinteractedwiththeWebsite.Theirinfluencewasalsoobservedafterwards,whenuserswereaskedtoexploittheinformationtheyhadgleanedfromtheWebsite.Assuch,thesefindingswillhaveapracticalvalueforWebsitedesigners.Keywords:Colourappeal,Websitedesign,Navigation,User-centreddesignIntroductionTheimportanceofvisualperceptioninhuman–computerinteraction(HCI)haslongbeenacknowledged(e.g.,[1]).Inthepast,authorsgenerallyadvocatedauser-centredapproach,puttingforwardergonomicrecommendations,or“goldenrules”[1,2].Theserecommendationstendedtofocusonusers’cognitiveandperceptual-motorabilities,ratherthanonwhattheyfeltwheninteractingwithasystem.Now,however,humansandtheirinteractionswithsystemsareincreasinglybeingstudiedatthreedifferentlevels:knowing,doingandfeeling[3].Inrecentyears,th