A Study on Stress-Inducing Elements in Interface Visual Design Using Brain Wave Data
- 주제(키워드) Stress , User Interface , User Interface Design , Electroencephalogram , Questionnaire , Perceived Stress Scale , System Usability Scale
- 주제(DDC) 302.23
- 발행기관 아주대학교 일반대학원
- 지도교수 Suk Haejung
- 발행년도 2026
- 학위수여년월 2026. 2
- 학위명 석사
- 학과 및 전공 일반대학원 디지털미디어학과
- 실제URI http://www.dcollection.net/handler/ajou/000000035872
- 본문언어 영어
- 저작권 아주대학교 논문은 저작권에 의해 보호받습니다.
초록/요약
A poor user interface visual design affects mental workload and performance which relate to stress, therefore a poor visual design could cause user stress. To empirically test this hypothesis, a between-groups comparative experiment was designed to determine if the interface layout, grouping of elements, color contrast and use of visual indicators affect user stress, and which of these elements affect user stress more or less, or do not affect at all. Adults aged 19-30 years were recruited to interact with two different website prototypes of a fictional online accommodation booking service to complete simple tasks and answer basic questions. One prototype followed proper design guidelines and the other was a modified version that included a poor usage of layout and grouping of elements, color contrast or visual indicators. Brain wave data was assessed through an EEG headset to measure participants’ stress levels after performing tasks on each of the prototypes. Additionally, their self-reported stress level and assessment of the systems were also collected through the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the System Usability Scale (SUS) and a prototype evaluation questionnaire. After analysing the EEG data and questionnaire answers from 21 participants, allocated into 3 different groups for each of the conditions, the results indicate that users can experience higher stress levels while performing tasks in systems that do not follow proper guidelines for layout, grouping of elements, color contrast and use of visual indicators. Particularly, the lack of proper visual indicators showed a higher effect on user stress. Design considerations for improved user interface design that takes into account users’ mental and emotional state are also proposed.
more목차
Chapter 1. Introduction 1
1.1 Background 2
1.2 Problem statement 2
1.3 Study objectives and scope 3
1.4 Structure of the thesis 3
Chapter 2. Literature Review 4
2.1 Layout 4
2.2 Color contrast 5
2.3 Visual indicators & Grouping 5
2.4 Conclusion: Identified Visual Design stress-inducing elements 6
Chapter 3. Methodology 7
3.1 Materials & Tools 8
3.2. Procedure 27
3.3. Population & Sample 29
3.4 Data analysis 30
Chapter 4. Results 33
4.1. Group 1: Original prototype (A) vs. Modified layout and grouping (B) 34
4.2. Group 2: Original prototype (A) vs. Modified color contrast (C) 36
4.3. Group 3: Original prototype (A) vs. Modified visual indicators (D) 38
Chapter 5. Discussion 40
Chapter 6. Conclusion 42
6.1. Limitations 44
References 45
Appendix A: Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) 48
Appendix B: Prototype Evaluation Questionnaire (PEQ) 49
Appendix C: System Usability Scale (SUS) 50
