Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1-1-2003 A classification of user interface metaphors in B2C ecommerce website design Vanitha Alagirisamy Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Recommended Citation Alagirisamy, Vanitha, "A classification of user interface metaphors in B2C ecommerce website design" (2003). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 19889. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/19889 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A classification of user interface metaphors in B2C ecommerce website design by Vanitha Alagirisamy A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF FINE ARTS Major: Graphic Design Program of Study Committee: Sungyun Ryoo Kang Roger Baer Scott Chadwick Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2003 Copyright D Vanitha Alagirisamy, 2003. All rights reserved. 11 Graduate College Iowa State University This is to certify that the master's thesis of Vanitha Alagirisamy has met the thesis requirements of Iowa State University Signatures have been redacted for privacy TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES v LIST TABLES vii LIST OF V'i~EBSITES V111 ABSTRACT ix CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 2. METHODOLOGY 6 Process 6 Measuring The Reliability of the Research 8 Process of Reliability 8 Thesis Organization 10 CHAPTER 3. LITER.ATI;TRE REVIEW 11 Ecommerce 11 Generations of Websites 12 Ecommerce Classifications 13 Customer's Expectations 15 Branding 17 Shift from Market Place to Market Space 17 Web Statistics 18 Search Engines 18 User Interface 20 User interface in Computer Systems 21 User Interface and Usability 21 Usability and Business Benefits 23 Usage of Graphics on the Websites for Effective Usability 24 Navigation 25 Theories of Metaphors that can be Applied to Ecommerce Websites 27 Metaphor and Truth 31 Literal Versus Figurative 32 Metaphors on the Web 32 Reasons to the Use of Metaphors 36 Metaphors and Paradox 37 Studies on the Use of Metaphors 38 Web Metaphors Versus Desktop Metaphors 40 Information Architecture 40 Summary 42 1V CHAPTER 4. ANALYSIS 43 Classification of Metaphors 44 Organizational Metaphors 46 Structural Metaphors 46 Navigational Metaphors 52 Location as Metaphor 54 Iconic Metaphors 5S Hyperlinks 61 Visual Metaphors 62 Symbolic Metaphors 64 Personalization 67 CHAPTER 5. RESULTS FINDINGS A~TD DISCUSSIONS 71 Analysis Matrix 71 Comparative Study 74 Overuse of User Interface Metaphors in B2C Ecommerce ~Vebsites 79 New Metaphors 79 Are the Existing Metaphors in Ecommerce Websites Appropriate 80 Summary 81 CHAPTER 6. CONCLUSION 82 Limitations 84 Future Study gs APPENDIX A. USER TEST 87 APPENDIX B. SNAP SHOT OF TOP TEN WEBISTES 95 BIBLIOGRAPHY 114 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 117 V LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1 User interface metaphor classifications 45 Figure 4.2 Organizational metaphors 48 Figure 4.3 Indexical metaphor as a primary navigation- 48 v~~vvw.amazon.com Figure 4.4 Indexical metaphor and navigation- v~~vvw.bn.com 48 Figure 4.5 Structural metaphor, category two- vc~wv.priceline.com 53 Figure 4.6 Structural metaphor category two- www.ebay.com 53 Figure 4.7 Iconic metaphors help to work smarter 56 Figure 4.8 Iconic metaphors that have a special concept 56 Figure 4.9 Iconic metaphors that save space S 7 Figure 4.10 Icons of immediate recognition S 8 Figure 4.11 Icons that help better recall S 8 Figure 4.12 Icon metaphors with global interface 59 Figure 4.13 Interesting iconic metaphors 59 Figure 4.14 Examples of Iconic metaphors 59 Figure 4.15 Examples of Iconic metaphors 60 Figure 4.16 Left side/ Secondary form of navigation 60 Figure 4.17 Example of visual metaphors 63 Figure. 4.18 Example for personalization on amazon.com 67 Figure 4.18 Examples of symbolic metaphors 69 Figure 5.1 Graph showing the usage of the categorized metaphors in the 72 top 10 ecommerce website V1 Figure 5.2 Graph showing the usage of the categorized metaphors in the 75 next 10 ecommerce website Figure 5.3 Comparative analysis of the use of metaphors in the to 20 75 websites Figure 5.4 Showing structural and iconic metaphors in ecommerce 77 websites Figure 5.5 Showing visual and symbolic metaphors in e-commerce 77 websites Figure 5.6 Showing navigational metaphors in ecommerce websites 78 Figure 5.7 Showing iconic metaphors in ecommerce websites 78 Vll LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Analysis showing the usage of user interface 72 metaphors by the top five ecommerce websites. Table 2 Analysis showing the usage of user interface 72 metaphors by the next five ecommerce websites. Table 3 Reliability user test results 76 LIST OF WEBISTES http ://v~►~ww. amazon.com http://v~~vvw.half.com http: i/v~~vvw. eb ay. com http: //w►~wvv. bn.com http: //v~►~►~vw. ubi d http://www.netflix.com http ://v~~vwv.priceline.com http ://v~►~ww. h s n. c o m http ://v~►~ww.buy. com http: //~►ni~vw. cdnow. com http: //v~~vvw. drugstore. com http://u~vvw.stamps.com http://v~~vvw. bigzoo.com http://v~~vvw. real.com http ://v~~ww. 1800flowers.com http://v~~wv. vistaprint.com http://u~vvw. classmates.com http://u~vvw. keen. com http://wv~vw. western union.com 1X ABSTRACT The role of metaphors in B2C ecommerce user interface design, why it is considered so important and how they could be classified is discussed in this paper. ~Jser interface design requires designing metaphors according to the essentials terms and concepts and images representing data, tasks roles, organizations and people. This study begins with an overview of the nature of metaphors from its humble beginning as a literary device to its present status as fundamental aspect of human intelligence. The aim of this study is to classify the user interface metaphors in B2C ecommerce website for ease of understanding them. As a process, series of websites are taken as examples and analyzed of the use of user interface metaphors and the frequency of metaphor usage. The research methods include analyzing the twenty B2C ecommerce websites published in 2000, for the extent of metaphor usage, through analysis matrix and graphs. This research classifies the user interface metaphors into two broad categories; organizational metaphors and visual metaphors. Organizational metaphors are further classified as structural and navigational metaphors and visual metaphors are classified as symbolic metaphors and personalization. The outcome of this study would aid researchers and designers in creating ecommerce websites. 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The Internet plays a vital role in all aspects of today. From its creation in 1983 it grew rapidly beyond its largely academic origin, into an increasingly commercial and popular medium. By the mid-1990's the Internet connected millions of computers and by the late 1990's the Internet was flourishing.l According to Merriam Webster's ~'ollegiate Dictionary, the word "internet" means, "an electronic communications network that connects computer networks and organizational computer facilities around the world."2 Yet another definition given by Anita Rosen in her book, 7~he E-Commerce Question and Answer Book, defines Internet as "a facility, which provides one with the technical infrastructure to enable an online presence." She adds that the Internet is a "technical structure" enabling people around the world to gain access to the World Wide Web (WWW). Elaborating further, she says that the Internet is a global network, which is made up of smaller networks, linking millions of computers around the world, through telecommunication infrastructure.3 The exponential growth of Internet and the evolution of technological capabilities, all transformed the way business is being conducted. This transformation of the way goods and services of a company is delivered and received on the web is called ecommerce. With Internet service, browser and a computer, millions of World Wide Web customers today, can ~ Cerf Leiner, Kahn Clark, Lynch Kleinrock, Roberts Postel, Wolff. "A brief History of the Internet" http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief/html (accessed Oct S, 2001). ` Merrian Webster Dictionary. p 612. 2 go online to buy and sell goods and services at any time and at any place. The success of electronic commerce is obvious on the value of online transaction taking place ranging from billions of dollars today.4 To enable effective. navigation on ecommerce websites, interface design plays a very important role. Studies have proved that the use of metaphors is effective in user interface design if utilized well. In its simplicity, user interface can be referred to as, a method and device that is used to accommodate interaction between machines and the human beings who use them.5 On the other hand a metaphor can be defined as "An implied analogy in which one thing is compared or identified with another dissimilar thing. For example, a feeling that is described in terms of "butterflies in the stomach," a "heart beating like a drum," or "just going blank. " 6 The three concepts, ecommerce, user interface and metaphors that contribute to form an important part of ecommerce website form the basis of this study, too. Here an attempt is made to analyze the role of these three concepts in a B2C