Fluency

Prior research has shown a clear relationship between a product's aesthetics and its usability: more aesthetic interfaces are judged easier to use. The processing fluency literature, in turn, suggests that fluency influences aesthetics. Building on these findings, my bachelor's thesis examined the relationship between processing fluency, aesthetics, and usability in apps, and how fluency shapes both.

To do this, I ran two empirical online studies in which participants rated apps on these three variables. Study 1 found positive relationships between perceived fluency, perceived aesthetics, and expected usability. Contrary to earlier literature, fluent apps were not rated as more aesthetic — but they were rated higher on expected usability and perceived fluency.

Study 2 confirmed the significant results of the first, but measured experienced usability after a first-click test rather than expected usability. Unlike in Study 1, fluent apps here were also rated as more aesthetic, and the first-click test showed that fluent apps were more efficient than disfluent ones.