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The importance of the retail environment has been a prominent area of research for over four decades, focusing upon the effects of design. The retail environment, like other aesthetic surroundings affects customers’ behaviour, perceptions and attitudes. Yet, while there is a growing body of research regarding design, there is little research to date specifically on fashion retail shopping environments. Technology has made shopping via multiple channels possible and economically feasible, and the demand for more channel options is being driven by the consumer. The significant growth of online retailing has led to the evolution of traditional retailing, developing from a single channel to multi-channel models. This study has used both quantitative and qualitative research methods in order to explain theoretically the online shopping environment cues that contribute towards creating an online fashion shopping environment. As this research is taking into consideration the development of the retail market and the movement of retailers towards multi-channel fashion retailing, design cues which can be replicated, or transferred from a physical shopping environment to an online shopping environment will be discussed. Fashion retailers can use the different channel environments to induce a desired shopping experience for the consumer, facilitate the consumers’ needs and fulfil the retailers’ strategic objectives. This report includes new perspectives on how website design has developed during the past decade as a result of advances in technology and consumer acceptance. This research will identify and develop some important issues related to online environment cues and consumers' perceptions of online design that have not been addressed by previous studies by investigating literature regarding the physical and online shopping environment, design cues that form part of an online fashion environment focusing on the strategic design of an online retail store will be studied.

As online fashion retailing has grown immensely over the last fifteen years, retailers’ website designs have had to evolve to meet customers’ increasing demands, needs and expectations in order to attract and retain them. The purpose of this thesis is to provide a greater understanding of how different ages of consumers respond to retailers’ holistic website designs through the use of eye tracking technology. Insights gained from this research will enable retailers to enhance their website design in accordance with their target market’s behaviour, habits and expectations. Eye tracking is a key tool for analysing and understanding human-computer interaction and can be used alongside qualitative in-depth interviews to provide a detailed understanding of users’ responses to the website design. This study uses the Stimulus–Organism–Response (S-O-R) paradigm to investigate how the fashion retailer’s holistic website design influences users’ visual, cognitive and behavioural responses, which leads to their approach or avoidance behaviour. The study also examines whether the shopper’s motivation or age will have an influence on their responses to the website design. It is important to analyse the differences in behaviour between age groups because more mature consumers are now shopping online, and academic research on this topic is limited. A sample of 50 participants, spanning ages 20 to 70 and consisting of regular users of the website, participated in the study. The study was conducted on the fashion retailer’s live website and results were recorded in real time, making the findings more valid. The study found that users were very focused on looking for products when shopping online and that the product listings page is arguably the most important page on the website as users visit it the most and spend the most time on it. Furthermore, the study found that navigation and customisation design stimuli were the most important to users and that they did not to pay much attention to the lower sections of the web pages. The study also found that users’ responses to the website can change according to their motivation as users spent less time on the website if they were goal-directed shopping and had more focused viewing patterns than if they were browsing. Moreover, the study also found that different age groups had different responses to the website design, as older users took longer to navigate the website and had slower viewing times than younger users, and also looked at the thumbnail images that were further down the page a lot less. This research has filled a gap in the academic literature and provided a detailed understanding of eye fixations, and how they can be interpreted in website design studies. Future academic studies on retailers’ website design can assume that long fixation durations indicate positive attention. Also, the findings enable retailers to understand how the design stimuli affect different ages of users’ shopping experiences and, as a result, can design their website according to their target markets’ behaviour. Furthermore, this study highlights the areas that are not capturing users’ attention on the website, and that need to be improved by retailers. Overall, the findings suggest that retailers should focus on providing an easy, efficient and quick shopping experience for users when designing their website.

A university library web site is created as a means for providing information resources and services without the limitation of time or space. To ensure that the design of the web site will not be an obstacle to their users, usability is a key issue raised among librarians. In the tertiary context, information literacy is also widely promoted since it is regarded as the skills that can empower human development in the Information Society. These two issues, web site usability and information literacy, have motivated this thesis which is a case study influenced by phenomenography. The research was conducted with the purpose of investigating the relationship between the design of a university library web site, in particular its usability, and the development of students' information literacy through their experience of using the web site. The understanding found within this research is informed by three clear phases of data collection: Phase 1: Development of the Criteria, Phase 2: Assessment of a Usable University Library Web Site Fostering Information Literacy, and Phase 3: Investigation of Students' Conceptions of Information Literacy Development. Various research methods were used in each phase: questionnaires, focus groups, and experts' selection of the criteria for Phase 1, heuristic evaluation and usability testing for Phase 2, and focus groups, think aloud protocols, and interviews for Phase 3. The data were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Two major outcomes are revealed as a result of the research. The first is the usability measures/criteria capable of reinforcing information literacy that can be useful in evaluating the design of a university library web site. The second is a model describing students' conceptions of information literacy development through the use of a university library web site. Results of the research also reveal that there is a relationship between the design of a university library web site, in particular its usability, and the development of students' information literacy through their experience of using the web site. This applies particularly at the information level, especially Information Literacy Attribute #2: finding and accessing the needed information efficiently and effectively. The students experience information literacy development through the use of a university library web site by experiential learning. Their conceptions of information literacy development can be divided into three categories: "no development", "restricted development", and "transferable development". Interestingly, there is no difference between students from different disciplines in terms of their ways of experiencing information literacy development through the use of a university library web site. Considering the results, the hypothesis that there is no relationship between the design of a university library web site, in particular its usability, and the development of students' information literacy through their experience of using the web site is rejected. In contrast, the hypothesis that there is no noticeable difference between students from different disciplines in their ways of experiencing information literacy development through the use of a university library web site is accepted. The research makes contributions to both theory and practice. Theoretically, it proposes a model describing students' conceptions of information literacy development through the use of a university library web site as well as the chronology and continuity of their conceptions. Practically, there are implications for university library web site design: implications for usability evaluation methods, for usability measures/criteria capable of supporting information literacy that can be used to evaluate the design of a university library web site, and for the usable and information literacy-supportive design of a university library web site. In addition, it also suggests some implications for information literacy development: implications for investigating the students' conceptions of information literacy development, for information literacy education in regard to the academic environment, and for information literacy education in regard to a university library. The study concludes with recommendations for possible future research in the hope that further insights into the design of a university library web site and information literacy development may be revealed.

Research reports that the search for health information is the fourth most popular activity being done on the web (Pew Internet & American Life Project, 2004). However, for disabled persons, barriers experienced when interfacing with the Internet may cause healthcare websites to be inaccessible to them. This study explores the level of accessibility of healthcare websites and the relationship between accessibility and usability by determining how compliant state department of health and human services websites are with accessibility and usability guidelines. A content analysis of each state’s department of health and human services website was conducted. Results revealed that state department of health and human services websites are not very compliant with accessibility guidelines, are somewhat compliant with usability guidelines, and overall are not very accessible. The findings also indicate that there is a significant moderate relationship between accessibility and usability which suggests that the two concepts are interconnected.

The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate cultural differences in consumer perception of online advertising. As the Internet grows it has become important for companies to adjust website design to cultural differences in online advertising. Internet users are more comfortable with website design related to their own culture. There have been a limited number of previous investigation regarding website design and our study aims to fill this gap. Schwartz cultural values are used to investigate cultural differences on a micro level. Our study aims to compare Sweden and China based on cultural values. The two countries were chosen because of the cultural differences. Schwartz cultural values have been selected since Schwartz investigates cultural differences on an individual level. The result of the dissertation indicates that there are other factors than colour text and image that influence consumers’ perception of the website design. One of the challenges in the dissertation was to connect the conceptual model to the collected data from the focus group interviews. However, some of the Schwartz’s cultural values could be captured where the participants were motivated by the culture in the responses. The result of the study can be used for companies and their website design in connection to Swedish and Chinese culture. The investigation gave us more understanding regarding the area of online advertising in connection to website design.

E-commerce retail sales continue to experience significant growth in the United States (U.S.) annually. However, the contribution of e-commerce retail sales towards total retail sales in the U.S. remains low. Furthermore, the growth of e-commerce retail sales from year to year as a percentage of total retail sales in the U.S. is also fractional. The lack of online trust by consumers has been cited as a significant barrier to transacting online and a possible cause of this slow-moving trend. E-commerce retail sales are paramount to the success and profitability of online merchants. It remains critical to understand the underlying determinants of online trust as a precursor to online purchase intention. This study sought to explore the effect of one such determinant namely, website design, on online trust. Using constructs and scales synthesized from the salient literature, the effects of visual design, social-cue design, and content design on online trust were measured and reported. Additionally, the mediating influence of online trust on online purchase intention was investigated. Demographic factors of age and gender were also examined for possible moderating effects of website design on online trust. A conceptual model of the influence of website design on online trust and the influence of online trust on purchase intention in e-commerce retailing environments was also tested. The study involved scenario-based survey research methodology. Participants were presented with two websites along with a fictitious purchase scenario and post-scenario survey. The survey captured their responses with respect to the design elements of each website, their inclination to trust each website, and their intention to make a purchase from each website. Participants’ age range and gender were also captured in the survey. A total of 502 participants took part in the study. The results found that each of the components of website design namely, visual design, social-cue design, and content design had a statistically significant effect on online trust. Online trust was also found to mediate the effect of these design factors on purchase intention. Finally, no significant effects of age or gender on website design’s relationship with online trust were found. Subsequently, implications and suggestions for future research are presented.

This study is qualitative and interpretive in nature. It examines the perception of 6 people aged 23-32 with decent experience in using the Web on the usability of three user interface website design patterns. These patterns are the ‘hamburger’ icon (an icon used primarily in mobile websites and apps that shows a hidden navigation when clicked), CAPTCHAs (a task that users have to complete to continue browsing a webpage to prevent automated software operating on the webpage) and returning to the homepage. It searches for the characteristics that they desire to see in those three user interface design patterns and the actions that those patterns represent. The participants are reached through interviews and observations and the research pinpoints that although experienced Internet users find the user interface elements relatively usable some usability factors can be worked upon in the chosen design elements and pinpoints what users would want to see changed, the actual changes they want and the problems they actually encounter with the current status of the three (3) design patterns and their usability. More noticeably, the research pinpoints that a “Homepage” button would be more usable than “Home” button which is the de facto standard as of this moment and it shows that the ‘hamburger’ icon is usable enough amongst experienced users, contradicting the research pinpointing that 71 out of 76 fail using the icon (Fichter and Wisniewski, 2016) probably due to the participants’ experience with technology, but other, preferable alternatives to the ‘hamburger’ icon are revealed from the participants which are in line with the current literature. CAPTCHAs are confirmed as a ‘nuisance’ (Pogue, 2012) and the need for CAPTCHAs which are quick to solve emerges which is what forms the perception of usability of the participants.

The Internet is playing an increasingly crucial role in destination marketing and it is used as a major marketing tool among National Tourism Organizations (NTOs). Website design is influential for consumers' Website preference and destination selection. This study is to understand the application of image-based technology by the major National Tourism Organizations (NTOs) through the collection and comparison of static images and dynamic images presented in their official tourism Websites. Data collected from the sampling of the world's top 25 tourism destination nations reveals that all National Tourism Organizations (NTOs) use either static images or dynamic images for their Websites, but the use of static images are far more popular than that of dynamic images.

Internet has over the years developed to a platform where more and more companies and organizations control their businesses. Men are spending considerably more time shopping in general compared to only a decade ago, and the numbers are still increasing. Men are using the internet to buy products more often than women do worldwide. Stereotypes tell us that women like shopping for clothes while men do not. Men in Sweden buy more than women in 14 out of 16 purchasing categories on the inter-net; one of the other two is fairly even. The last category is “clothes and accessories” and even though Sweden is proved to be the least masculine country in a study containing 53 countries in total and are proved to be so called quick-shoppers, men do not shop clothes and accessories to the same extent as women in Sweden. Thus the question we wanted to investigate further was what is important to priori-tize in terms of website design and structure when selling clothes and accessories in Sweden.The purpose of this report derived from the problematization follows: to bring out which factors of a websites’ design and structure that are most important and most correlated with the intention to pur-chase on a website selling clothes and accessories targeting men in Sweden.In order to get an answer to our questions we used a deductive approach where previous studies within the area was carefully looked through and the most important factors for intentions to purchase and usability in other studies were used to see how they were related to the intentions to purchase and which factors that were more important than others. A quantitative approach was applied and a survey was constructed to send out to people in the ages 16-34.The results were unsatisfying in terms of correlations with the intentions to purchase, however indica-tion of importance in the categories “Ease of use”, “Trustworthiness and convenience” and “Presenta-tion of supply” were derived from the analysis.