Post on 21-Feb-2023
MA proposal bySiti Zubaidah Mohd Zain - 1
RESEARCH PROPOSAL FOR MASTER IN COMPUTER SCIENCE
Siti Zubaidah Mohd Zain
School Of Informatics and Applied MathematicsUniversity Malaysia Terengganu (Umt)
Measuring Asthetics For The Most Popular NetworkingWebsites: Facebook
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CONTENTS PAGE
1. INTRODUCTION.........................3
1.1 The research problem.............4
1.2 The purpose of the study…………………………..5
1.3 The objectives of the study......5
1.4 Research question(s).............5
2. LITERATURE REVIEW ...................6
3. PROPOSED METHODOLOGY ...............10
4. MY PERSONAL WORK PLAN...............11
5. EXPECTED RESULTS / BENEFITS………………...12
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References ........................13
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF PROJECT
Aesthetics is a word that is not so familiar among public, but it
is the important elements that able to influence or grab people
attention. Aesthetics or also spelled as esthetics is a branch of
philosophy that are dealing with the nature of art, beauty, and
taste. Aesthetics is about dealing with the creation and
appreciation of beauty. Scientifically, aesthetics was defined as
the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes
called judgments of sentiment and taste. Based on scholar field,
aesthetics was defined as “critical reflection” on art, culture,
and nature.
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In Information Technology (IT), aesthetics has focused upon the
study of human-computer interaction and creating user-friendly
devices or websites and software applications. The software
itself has aesthetics dimensions (“software aesthetics”), as do
IT mediated processes and experiences such as computer video
games and virtual reality simulations. A distinct aesthetics in
digital culture is used to judge the appeal of digital
environment such as web browsers, websites, and icons, as well as
visual and aural art produced exclusively with digital
technologies.
Facebook is an online social networking service that founded on
February 4, 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates
and fellow Harvard University Students, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew
McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. Nowadays, Facebook
had become the most popular networking website. It be proved
based on the survey in October 2014 by eBizMBA where Facebook
reached 900,000,000 estimated unique monthly visitors had become
the most popular social networking site among other top fifteen
most popular social networking sites, which are Twitter,
Linkedln, Pinterest, Google Plus+, Tumblr, Instagram, VK, Flickr,
Vine, Meetup, Tagged, Ask.fm, MeetMe, and ClassMates.
Down here is the Figure 1 that showed number of monthly active
Facebook users worldwide from 3rd quarter 2008 to 2nd quarter 2014
(in millions) by Statista: The Statistics Portal. We can see here
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the increasing value of active users of Facebook in all over the
world. The values keep increasing without a single graph that
shown flat or decreasing values.
Figure 1: Number of Monthly Active Facebook Users Worldwide From 3rd Quarter 2008 to 2nd Quarter
2014 (in Millions) by Statista: The Statistics Portal
This kind of situation, make me willing to study about the
aesthetics of Facebook site because it able to grab the attention
of billions users all around the world. This study seriously
should be done because it can help other people to know the
values of aesthetics for the most popular social networking site
that able to gain people attention and interest, plus make people
all around the world always be more active with it compare to
other social networking sites. This kind of website will help any
kind of business be grown faster and bigger time to time. Just
imagine the economy of any country that able to develop the
website that able to influence people all around the world stick
with it surely will achieve a victory in their economy levels.
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This research will be executed on how to measure the Facebook
user interface aesthetics values. People will know the objective
value of aesthetics for the most popular networking website
nowadays.
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT
Below are the lists of problem statement for this research:
i. The research problem is to measure the value of aesthetic of
Facebook site based on six elements derived from the model of
Ngo, Teo, and Byrne (2002). These six elements were balance,
equilibrium, symmetry, sequence, rhythm, as well as order and
complexity.
ii. To change the subjective results of aesthetics view for
facebook to the objective values.
iii. To measure the 14 elements of web design principles.
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iv. To find out the aesthetics value for the selected facebook
site interface.
1.3 OBJECTIVE(S)
i. The purpose of the study is to know the value of aesthetics
for the most popular networking websites with the aim to
inform readers with its aesthetics information.
ii. To change the subjective value of Aesthetics to the
objective value of it.
iii. To let people know the value of aesthetics objectively for
the most popular website.
iv. To help individuals to be more specific in making judgment
for liking any website because normally they make judgments
based upon information received from mood, emotion, and
feeling (Zhang, 2009).
v. To give ideas to people in designing the next website by
applying the same level of aesthetics’ objective value.
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROJECT
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By study the aesthetics of Facebook, we will able to apply the
same concept of aesthetics to the other website in business area
in order to increase the amount of costumer.
1.5 The research questions
To justify the hypothesis and confirm or refute it, the
following research questions were posed:
i) How to measure visual aesthetics of Facebook?
ii) Can the six elements of aesthetics (balance,
equilibrium, symmetry, sequence, rhythm, as well as
order and complexity) of Facebook achieve the closest
value to 1?
1.6 SCOPE OF THE PROJECT
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Aesthetics Concept
The word “Aesthetics” derives from the Greek language
“aisthetikos” meaning of sense of perception. It is a philosophy
study about aesthetics concentrates on beauty and tastes, which
are sensory values from human senses (Ford, 2009). The evaluation
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or judgment standard of beauty was referring to the philosophical
breakthrough from arts and nature. Ford (2009) stated a subarea
of theory about the philosophy of art that, “aesthetics involves
ways of seeing and perceiving the world”, it can be used as a
standard measurement of a particular style or design.
The theory takes account not just on an individual object but
also for all the things that are related as a whole, all of its
parts are combined in a way of harmonious, which is what we
called as beautiful (Townsend, 1997). For example, when people
see a painting, they do not feel that each individual objects are
nice but view the painting as a whole. The distribution and
combination of related objects and intelligently chose of colour
constructed a harmonious picture of trees, sky and lakes. Another
example as we take on human, when people comment a girl is
beautiful, is not because she has a beautiful nose or eyes, but
the harmonious of every element on her face provide a confortable
feeling to others (Ch’ng, Simulation of a design environment for
users to incorporate proportioning systems into screen design,
2002). So, the more perfect the features are, a more near to the
standard of aesthetics is.
The Importance of a Good User Interface
Graphical User Interface (GUI) design is the design of software,
system, application, websites and all kinds of electronic devices
or products based on the user’s experience and interaction
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(Zetie, 1995). The goal of the user interface design is try to
achieve a simple, efficiency and user-friendly interaction, in
terms of provide the user a good balance of usability and fancy
visual sense. The user’s feedback during the developing of user
interface let developers realized that, there is a great
necessary to design and implement a good user interface that not
only helps the user perform tasks efficiently and productivity,
but also stimulate the user’s interests for keeping using the
system (Ch’ng, Simulation of a design environment for users to
incorporate proportioning systems into screen design, 2002).
However, computer systems are different from other systems. For
instance, digital watches or Microwave ovens, they generally have
buttons, digital display or a touchpad which users can interact
them by just press the buttons (Stone et al. 2005). But, for a
computer system, it is the combination of hardware and software
that receive user input and manipulate the system output for
assisting users to achieve certain tasks. So, frankly speaking,
user interface is part of the system and from the user’s view of
computer systems, the use of the interface is always limited and
based on his or her using experience of the user interface (see
Figure 2).
Figure 2: As to users, user interface is part of the computer system (Constantine &
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Lockwood, 1999)
Nowadays, the advent of graphics pushes user interface to another
stage in the evolution of interface design. Design rules like
grouping and alignments are still remained from the original
concept, elements like stylish layout and simple controls make
user interaction more efficient (Ch’ng, Simulation of a design
environment) for users to incorporate proportioning systems into
screen design involved:
1. User
2. Interface
3. Underlying hardware,
4. software, interaction
5. devices
6. User input
7. System output
User Interface Design in Aesthetics
User interface design in Aesthetics introduces aesthetic theories
from three aspects of web interface design, which are the screen
layout of website, the distribution of elements (includes
buttons, text, textbox and so on) and the use of colour on the
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web pages. The selected GUI design principles from aesthetic
theories are listed as follow:
1. Golden section
2. Dynamic symmetry
3. The Gestalt laws
4. Colour harmony
5. Goethe’s colour theories
Facebook Phenomenon
Recent statistics (2010) provided by Facebook reveal 50 percent
of their active users log-in everyday, and 35 millions use the
status feature to update their profiles daily (Hepburn, 2010). In
the context of Facebook, 60 million status updates are posted
each day (Hepburn, 2010). The uniform format of all Facebook
profiles challenges users to be more expressive and strategic to
distinguish their identity. Facebook is also familiar with the
ability of easy to use. More recently, social networkers have
been quicker to join Facebook, as the site increased their United
States user base from 42 to 103 million in 2009 alone (Corbett,
2010).
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Measuring Aesthetics
The aesthetics value of Facebook will be measure using Matlab
Software based on six elements derived from model Ngo, Teo, and
Byrne (2002). These six elements were balance, equilibrium,
symmetry, sequence, rhythm, as well as order and complexity.
Table 1 showed the explanations of terms used and the formulae
used for aesthetics measurements.
1. Balance
Balance=1−|BalanceVer|+|BalanceHor|
2∈ [0,1]
Balance=1−|BalanceVer|+|BalanceHor|
2∈ [0,1]
Balance in screen design was achievedby providing an equal weight of screenelements, left and right, top, andbottom.
2. Equilibrium
Equilibrium=1−|Equilibriumx|+|Equilibriumy|
2∈ [0,1 ]
Equilibrium on a screen wasaccomplished through centering thelayout itself.
Equilibrium=1−|Equilibriumx|+|Equilibriumy|
2∈ [0,1 ]
3. Symmetry
Symmetry=1−|SymmetryVer|+|SymmetryHor|+|SymmetryRad|
3∈ [0,1 ]
Symmetry was axial duplication where a
4. Sequence
Sequence=1−∑
j=UL,UR,≪,LR|qj−vj|
8 ∈ [0,1 ]
Sequence in design referred to the
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unit on one side of the centerline wasexactly replicated on the other side.There were three types of symmetry,which were vertical symmetry,horizontal symmetry, and radialsymmetry.
arrangement of objects in a layoutin a way that facilitated themovement of the eye through theinformation displayed.
5. Rhythm
Rhythm=1−|Rhythmx|+|Rhythmy|+|RhythmArea|
3∈ [0,1 ]
Rhythm was accomplished throughvariation of arrangement, dimension,number, and form of the elements. Theextent to which rhythm was introducedinto a group of elements depends onthe complexity.
6. Order and Complexity
OrderComplexity=∑i
5Mi5
∈ [0,1 ]
The measure of order was written asthe sum of the above measures for alayout. The opposite pole on thecontinuum was complexity. The scalecreated might also be considered asa scale of complexity, with extremecomplexity at one end and minimalcomplexity (order) at the other.
Table 1: Aesthetic Measures
3. THE PROPOSED METHODOLOGY
The literature review was chosen as a research method for the
first phases that shown in Table 2, as the field is rather new
and based on literature not well known or used by the industry
yet. Doing this literature review gives a better opportunity to
establish subject background and learn from other researchers.
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Furthermore, viewing and understanding all the literature review
will help to understand the related main topic faster and
accurately. Each researcher will have their own point of view
that will give much more new ideas in elaborating this new
research.
Research
Process
Research
Questions
Research Methods Objectives
Phase 1 What is theconcept ofaesthetics thatbe applied to awebsite interfacedesign?
Literature
review
To explore thetheories and theoutcome of thepreviousresearch.
Phase 2 What are theelements existfor measuring theaesthetics valuefor the Facebookinterface design?
Literature
review
Collecting allthe detailed dataabout the sixelements ofaesthetics.
Phase 3 What are thevalues of all sixelements ofaesthetics?
Measure each ofthe aestheticselements valueby using theMatlab software.
To find out thevalues for allsix elements ofFacebook siteaesthetics.
What is the valueof aesthetics foreach of Facebooksite?
Find the valueof aestheticsfor each site bytotal up all thevalues of sixelements foreach site andthen divide itby 6.
To find out thevalue ofaesthetics foreach site. If thevalues are nearto the 1 then itsgood. If thevalues are nearto the 0 then itsmean theinterface is bad.
Table 2: Research Methods
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4. MY PERSONAL WORK PLAN
Down here is my personal work plan in order to complete this
study. It started in October 2014 and will be end in December
2014. For the presentation date, I believe it will be announce
soon.
STEPS IN THE RESEARCH PLAN DEADLINE FOR COMPLETION
Submission of the proposal 19 October 2014
Design of research plan 22 October 2014
Literature review 23 October 2014
Select the Facebook site that willbe measure their aesthetics value.
5 November 2014
Measure the six elements ofaesthetics value one site by onesite using MatLab software.
6 November 2014
Find out the aesthetics value fromthe six elements of each site.
7 December 2014
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Analyze all the data. 10 December 2014
Report up findings 18 December 2014
Presentation of final research To be announceTable 3: The schedule in completing this thesis
5.0 EXPECTED RESULTS / BENEFITS
1) People will know how to measure the aesthetics values
of the most popular social networking website,
Facebook.
2) People will know the aesthetics values of the most
popular social networking website, Facebook.
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3) People will understand how to apply the aesthetics
concept to their website in order to grab users’
attention in all around the world.
References
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Maarja Pajusalu. (2012). The Evaluation of User Interface Aesthetics.
Thesis by Institute of Informatics,Tallinn University.
Helen C. Purchase, John Hamer, Adrian Jamieson, Oran RyanPh.D. (2011).
Investigating
objective measures of web page aesthetics and usability.
Journal by University of Glasgow, University of Auckland.
Katharina Reinecke, Tom Yeh, Luke Miratrix, Rahmatri Mardiko, Yuechecn
Zhao, Jenny Liu,
Krzysztof Z. Gajos. (2013). Predicting Users’ First Impressions of
Website Aesthetics with a Quantification of Perceived Visual
Complexity and Colorfulness.
Journal by Harvard University, University of Colorado at Boulder, University of
Maryland.
Siqi Fu. (2012). User Interface Design By Applying Theories Of
Aesthetics.
Thesis by Lahti University of Applied Sciences.
MA proposal bySiti Zubaidah Mohd Zain - 20
Paul A. Fishwick. (2008). Software Aesthetics: From Text and Diagrams
to Interactive Spaces.
Thesis by University of Florida.
Khiet P. Truong, David A. Van Leeuwen, and Mark A. Neerincx. (2007).
Unobtrusive
Multimodal Emotion Detection in Adaptive Interfaces: Speech
and Facial Expressions.
Journal by TNO Human Factors, Dept. of Human Interfaces.
Jessica Lee Pugh. (2010). A Qualitative Study of the Facebook Social
Network: The Desire to
Influence, Associate, and Construct A Representative and Ideal Identity.
Thesis by California State University, 2010.
Stephanie Ashley. (2012). Exploring Facebook As An Online Support
Group For Smoking
Cessation.
Thesis by Colorado State University.
Rianne C. Farrugia. (2013). Facebook and Relationships: A Study
MA proposal bySiti Zubaidah Mohd Zain - 21
of How Social Media Use is
Affecting Long-Term Relationships.
Thesis by College of Liberal Arts.
Lindsey L. Smith. (2010). The Antecedents Of Changing Facebook
Content For Employment:
An Application Of The Theory Of Reasoned Action.
Journal by Colorado State University.
Tomas Staudek. Computer-Aided Aesthetics Evaluation of Visual
Patterns.
Journal by ISAMA, The International Society of the Arts, Mathematics, and
Architecture.
Tey Meng Kar, Jasni Mohd Zain, and Goh Ying Soon. (2010).
Measuring Aesthetics of
Mandarin Learning Web Pages: Are Users’ Perceptions Congruent
with the Measured Values of Aesthetics-Measurement Application
(AMA).