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elements of an object or a form on human preferences. This type of research usually seeks to iden-
tify general laws of aesthetic qualities and is most commonly associated with the “experimental aes-
thetics” stream of research (e.g., Berlyne, 1974). As such, it reflects the objective approach to the
study of aesthetics. Although Berlyne's theory was highly influential, subsequent research has ques-
tioned its predictions (e.g., Martindale et al., 1990; Whitfield, 2000) as well as the entire experimen-
tal aesthetics enterprise (Arnheim, 1992). The exploratory tradition tries to delineate higher-order
factors that represent people's perceptions of the evaluated objects. This stream of research is con-
cerned more with subjective perceptions of aesthetics than with the objective properties of things. It
is also typified by the evaluation of complete and ecologically valid stimuli (e.g., works of art, build-
ings, and landscapes) rather than manipulated, artificial stimuli in controlled settings.
Obviously, aesthetics has not, until very recently, been studied systematically in the context of
IT. However, given the relevance of aesthetics to IT and keeping in line with the tradition of study-
ing contemporaneous artifacts and phenomena, IT is a natural context for the study of aesthetics
today and in the foreseeable future. I suggest below two general approaches to the study of aes-
thetics in IT. The first approach is presented as a framework in the mold of traditional positivist
research. This framework identifies constructs and variables that can be manipulated or measured
in relatively controlled settings. The second approach is more open-ended, identifying issues and
general research questions that are difficult to study within the former approach. This approach
may be necessary if we wish to render a more comprehensive picture of IT aesthetics. Hopefully,
this paper will stimulate research in both directions.
A Research Framework
The ubiquity of IT in today's world makes for abundant research questions and opportunities,
which are only partially represented in this section. A general research framework is presented
in Figure 15.1. It treats aesthetics as a variable on par with other frequently studied variables in
IS: in its core is an evaluative construct that is affected by some design characteristics of the IT
artifact; it may, in turn, affect other IT-related variables; and those effects are moderated by addi-
tional variables that are often employed in IS research. The idea is to present the pervasive rele-
vance of aesthetics to IT by including in the framework variables that have a demonstrated “track
record” in IT research. Obviously, this approach restricts the framework and perhaps ignores
some of the more distinct contributions of aesthetics. Thus, the next subsection will introduce
some broader issues and other, more speculative research questions.
Design Characteristics
The framework begins with the design characteristics of the information technology artifact as inde-
pendent variables. Researchers may study those characteristics as objective or perceived variables.
The history of aesthetics and IT research is filled with studies of both types, and the choice of
which type to use should be left for the researcher to decide. For example, research on graphics in
MIS has concentrated on objective design features (e.g., Benbasat et al., 1986; Jarvenpaa and
Dickson, 1988) whereas much of the research on technology acceptance is based on perceived sys-
tem characteristics (e.g., Venkatesh and Davis, 2000). Obviously, researchers and designers are
interested in the concrete, objective aesthetic design choices that cause predictable user reactions.
An example of such objective design guidelines can be found in Kim et al. (2003), who recommend,
for instance: “use colors with different hues between background and menu bar” as one of the
guidelines to create a futuristic atmosphere in a Web page. However, the quest for meaningful
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