Proposing a conceptual framework for ''aesthetics of one website'' using metasynthesis and Shannon entropy methods based on Leibniz theory
Creators: name: Tavosi, Maryam
name: Mahboub, Siamak
name: Naghshineh, Nader
name: Zerehsaz, Mohammad
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2024
Subjects: classificationCode: 461002
subject: Human information behaviour
classificationCode: 461007
subject: Open access
classificationCode: 460806
subject: Human-computer interaction

description: Introduction: The user experience is at a higher level than the user interface. Nielsen's checklist recommended in 1994, consists of ten factors, one of which is aesthetics, but the dimensions of beauty in the web environment, after thirty years, remain unknown and have not been accurately interpreted. The present study was designed in order to reduce the mentioned ambiguity. The current research aims to identify the aesthetic components of "one website" based on Leibniz's theory and rank them based on the importance of the criteria. Proposing a conceptual framework for the ''aesthetics of one website'', is done.<br><br>Methodology: In this study, the systematic review method of meta-synthesis with Shannon's qualitative content analysis approach was used. A targeting keyword search was conducted in six databases: Google Scholar, Emerald, Web of Science, IRANDOC, ISC, and SID. The numbers of 1110 sources were retrieved. Then, the numbers of 64 documents were selected for meta synthesis study, according to the PRISMA statement. Leibniz's theory of aesthetics and two studies, aesthetic factors from Lavie and Tractinsky (2004) and website analysis from Guo and Hall (2009) used as the basis of qualitative coding. Then, for each aesthetic code identified, the importance coefficient was calculated based on Shannon's qualitative content analysis method introduced by Azar (2000). The mentioned method looks at each code in the sources as an exchanged message, and the resources are the interviewees or experts who answered the research question.<br><br>Findings: The number of 2 categories 4 concepts and 75 aesthetic codes were obtained by performing meta synthesis. Two general levels of "objective aesthetics" and "subjective aesthetics" were obtained as the main categories of website beauty. The subjective level is related to the user and his perception (subject) and the objective level is related to the website design (object). Two main concepts were obtained for each category including "semantic aesthetics" and "classical aesthetics". The coefficient of importance for the codes of "typography" and "order" in the concept of classical aesthetics and the category of objective aesthetics were ranked first and second. In the category of subjective aesthetics, based on priority, the codes of "having an attractive color combination", "easy navigation" and "moderate visual complexity " in the concept of classical aesthetics, were obtained at the top of importance. The numbers of forty-three aesthetic codes for a website were identified with an importance coefficient greater than zero. A conceptual framework based on Leibniz, proposing for ''aesthetics of one website''. A number of 43 codes with an importance coefficient greater than zero were identified, which were ranked from 1 to 16. The other 32 codes (out of a total of 75 identified codes) that had a zero Shannon entropy significance coefficient (the number of 1 repetition in previous studies) were placed in the 17th rank of Shannon's significance. The top 12 codes, in order of priority, were "observance of typography techniques in website content design", "orderliness and cleanliness of website content", "observance of symmetry in website content design", "non-visual complexity", "attractive website color combination" From the point of view of the web user's mind", "Unity in website content design", "Easy navigation in website content from the standpoint of the web user's mind", "Observance of the organization through order and sequence and compliance with hierarchy during website design", "Complexity in Average limit (not too little and not too much) from the website user's<br><br>standpoint", "Arousing the feeling of richness and variety from the website user's standpoint", "Website design with the approach of having a variety website content ", "Attractive and interesting And the non-boringness of the website from the standpoint of the web user". Adherence to the Gestalt principle, and adherence to the golden ratio in website design, are among the other identified codes.<br><br>Conclusion: It is appropriate for website administrators to pay attention to both the objective and subjective aspects of aesthetics to promote users. Several types of research have been conducted on the aesthetic factors of a website. But research such as the current one, which combines previous studies with a meta-synthesis approach and coding by Shannon’s entropy, is the first in Iran and also at the international level. In this field, interdisciplinary cooperation in the fields of computer sciences and social sciences is recommended.