Usability, aesthetics, and efficiency: an evaluation in a multimedia environment

Human computer interaction in the arena of multimedia is a vast topic. The sub-issues involved include the type of multimedia environment or application in question, the personal history and characteristics of the individual user, the reasons that he or she is employing the multimedia tool, and the surroundings in which he or she is working. In this paper, we look at the role that aesthetics plays in user satisfaction, productivity, and efficiency. Our inquiry focuses on the question of whether the usability of a multimedia web site includes the requirements: a) that the site visitors should "feel" they are visiting an actual physical site, and b) that their site visit experience becomes more like the real experience as the site environment is made ecologically richer. The particular context within which we explore this usability question is that of museum web sites.