Getting the message across: Visual attention, aesthetic design and what users remember

An investigation into user attention and design quality in websites is described. The investigation combined reported attention to areas of interest, with free memory recall and a questionnaire to assess whether areas of interest that users attended to were also remembered and rated well in terms of aesthetic design and usability. Users' memory of areas of interest and design features agreed reasonably well with their reported attention. The sites which were rated more attractive overall had an open layout, extensive use of animations which drew users' attention, and good aesthetic design ratings. Aesthetics was the more important determinant for overall attractiveness; whereas content, brand and usability were more important for overall preference. Based on the analysis, design guidelines for directing user attention are proposed. Copyright 2008 ACM.