Javier Andres Bargas-Avila

Google Inc. | Google · YouTube

Written text plays a special role in user interfaces. Key information in interaction elements and content are mostly conveyed through text. The global context, where software has to run in multiple geographical and cultural regions, requires software developers to translate their interfaces into many different languages. This translation process is...

This study reports a controlled eye tracking experiment (N = 65) that shows the combined effectiveness of 20 guidelines to improve interactive online forms when applied to forms found on real company websites. Results indicate that improved web forms lead to faster completion times, fewer form submission trials, and fewer eye movements. Data from s...

A replication is an attempt to confirm an earlier study's findings. It is often claimed that research in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) contains too few replications. To investigate this claim we examined four publication outlets (891 papers) and found 3% attempting replication of an earlier result. The replications typically confirmed earlier fi...

This article contains the response to the reviews regarding the development and validation of the Intranet Satisfaction Questionnaire (ISQ), which measures user satisfaction with the Intranet. Where appropriate additional data analysis and interpretation is provided, the data show further evidence for the good validity, reliability and sensitivity...

Most websites use interactive online forms as a main contact point to users. Recently, many publications aim at optimizing web forms. In contrast to former research that focused at the evaluation of single guidelines, the present study shows in a controlled lab experiment with n=23 participants the combined effectiveness of 20 guidelines on real co...

In recent years, HCI has been influenced by a movement known as user experience (UX), which denotes new ways of understanding and studying the quality in use of interactive products. UX emphasizes on hedonic qualities of use and much more broadly on experience. Hedonic qualities concern, for instance, aesthetics, fun, and identification that people...

This paper experimentally investigates the role of visual complexity (VC) and prototypicality (PT) as design factors of websites, shaping users' first impressions by means of two studies. In the first study, 119 screenshots of real websites varying in VC (low vs. medium vs. high) and PT (low vs. high) were rated on perceived aesthetics. Screenshot...

This paper analyzes the relation between usability and aesthetics. In a laboratory study, 80 participants used one of four different versions of the same online shop, differing in interface-aesthetics (low vs. high) and interface-usability (low vs. high). Participants had to find specific items and rate the shop before and after usage on perceived...

There are many ways of placing error messages in web forms. A study of web conventions shows that the most common approach is to display error messages embedded in the form at the top of the entire form. Six frequent locations (right, left, above and below the erroneous input field, as well as on the top and at the bottom of the form) were tested i...

In this study, we tested whether the visual complexity (VC) of webpages influences viewer's affective reactions. In a laboratory experiment, 48 students viewed 36 webpages varying in VC while subjective feelings, behavioral, and cardiovascular responses were recorded. Less complex webpages were associated with more positive affect, decreased eye mo...

Users have clear expectations of where web objects are located on a web page. Studies conducted with manipulated, fictitious websites showed that web objects placed according to user expectations are found faster and remembered more easily. Whether this is also true for existing websites has not yet been examined. The present study investigates the...

When an interactive form in the world wide web requires users to fill in exact dates, this can be implemented in several ways. This paper discusses an empirical online study with n = 172 participants which compared six different versions to design input fields for date entries. The results revealed that using a drop-down menu is best when format er...

If an interactive form in the worldwide web requires users to select multiple answers from a given list, this can be implemented in several ways. This paper discusses an empirical study with n = 106 participants, where two interface elements for choosing multiple answers (checkboxes and list boxes) were compared. Results showed that participants ch...

This paper reviews how empirical research on User Experience (UX) is conducted. It integrates products, dimensions of experience, and methodologies across a systematically selected sample of 51 publications from 2005-2009, reporting a total of 66 empirical studies. Results show a shift in the products and use contexts that are studied, from work to...

This work explores the possibility of taking the structural characteristics of approaches to interaction design as a basis for the organization of interaction design patterns. The Universal Model of the User Interface (Baxley, 2003) is seen as well suited to this; however, in order to cover the full range of interaction design patterns the model ha...

Web sites need fast and effective navigation systems. An eye tracking laboratory study with n = 120 participants was conducted to compare the influence of different navigation designs (vertical versus dynamic menus) and task complexity (simple versus complex navigation tasks) on user performance, navigation strategy, and subjective preference. With...

Field format restrictions are often used in online forms to impose certain formatting and content rules on users, such as minimum password length or date entry format. In this study, the question whether and how format restrictions for fields in online forms should be communicated to Internet users was explored. In an online study with n = 166 part...

Knowledge about users’ expectations and mental models is a key aspect of interface development. By meeting users’ expectations, errors may be prevented and interaction quality enhanced. In the case of online shops, this means that it is crucial to know where users expect to find the most common Web objects such as the search field, shopping cart, o...

In recent years, electronic services delivered via the World Wide Web have become increasingly important to governments. Substantial investments have been made to provide crucial services and information to citizens, businesses, and governmental institutions. This paper presents the development of a short questionnaire to measure user satisfaction...

In recent years the aesthetic appearance of user-interfaces has become a topic of increasing interest in the field of human–computer interaction (HCI). At the same time, it is well known that there are gender-specific effects in HCI. The present study investigates the effect of web page symmetry by taking gender differences into account. A total of...

Interaction design patterns are a proven way to communicate good design. However, current pattern collections are not sufficiently powerful and generative to be used as a guide for designing an entire application such as those used in complex business environments. This study shows how we built and validated interaction design patterns that serve a...

Twenty guidelines for usable web form design have been presented. This compilation of guidelines enables an easier overview of important aspects that have to be considered when designing forms. Many guidelines already exist, scattered about empirical and practical studies and reports. This paper provides a comprehensive and structured summary of ap...

This research investigated the role of individual differences for the control of attention in the early stages of self-regulation. Theories on the development of addiction posit that repeated substance use alters memory structures referring to the substance through classical conditioning processes, leading to the attention-grabbing properties of th...

In interface development, it is crucial to reflect the users' expectations and mental models. By meeting users' expectations, errors can be prevented and the efficiency of the interaction can be enhanced. Applying these guidelines to website development reveals the need to know where users expect to find the most common web objects like the search...

In recent years, Intranets have become increasingly important to their companies. Substantial investments have been made to provide crucial information and workflows to employees. In this context the question of quality assurance arises: how can user satisfaction with the Intranet be measured? This article presents the development of a questionnair...

Visual complexity is an apparent feature in website design yet its effects on cognitive and emotional processing are not well understood. The current study examined website complexity within the framework of aesthetic theory and psychophysiological research on cognition and emotion. We hypothesized that increasing the complexity of websites would h...

In this study, a simple but important user interface design choice is examined: when marking required-fields in online forms, should GUI designers stick with the often used asterisk that many form design guidelines cite as the de-facto web standard, or should they choose a colored background as a new design solution to visually signal which input f...

Websites do not become usable just because their content is accessible. For people who are blind, the application of the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) often might not even make a significant difference in terms of efficiency, errors or satisfaction in website usage. This paper documents the development of nine guidelines to cons...

Online form validation can be performed in several ways. This article discusses two empirical studies with 77 and 90 participants, which have found evidence that the best way of presenting error messages is to provide the erroneous fields after users have completed the whole form. Immediate error feedback recommended by the International Organizati...

Online form validation can be performed in several ways. This reports discusses an empirical study with 77 participants, which has found evidence that the best way of validating online forms is by reloading the form with erroneous fields highlighted. ISO recommended immediate error feedback came in last in this study. Additionally, a modal theory f...