A gradual approach for maximising user conversion without compromising experience with high visual intensity website elements

TL;DR

This paper presents a gradual method to optimize visual intensity of website elements, balancing user experience and conversion rates by identifying a site-specific sweet spot through incremental adjustments.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel gradual approach to determine the optimal visual intensity level for websites, enhancing user conversion without harming user experience.

Findings

Negative response increases faster than conversion with higher visual intensity.

A saturation point exists where maximum conversion and minimal negative response coexist.

Gradual adjustment of visual elements helps find a site-specific optimal intensity level.

Abstract

The study develops and tests a method that can gradually find a sweet spot between user experience and visual intensity of website elements to maximise user conversion with minimal adverse effect. In the first phase of the study, we develop the method. In the second stage, we test and evaluate the method via an empirical study; also, an experiment was conducted within web interface with the gradual intensity of visual elements.The findings reveal that negative response grows faster than conversion when the visual intensity of the web interface is increased. However, a saturation point, where there is coexistence between maximum conversion and minimum negative response, can be found. The findings imply that efforts to attract user attention should be pursued with increased caution and that a gradual approach presented in this study helps in finding a site-specific sweet-spot for a level of visual intensity by incrementally adjusting the elements of the interface and tracking the changes in user behaviour. Web marketing and advertising professionals often face the dilemma of determining the optimal level of visual intensity of interface element. Excessive use of marketing component and attention-grabbing visual elements can lead to an inferior user experience and consequent user churn due to growing intrusiveness. At the same time, too little visual intensity can fail to steer users. The present study provides a gradual approach which aids in finding a balance between user experience and visual intensity, maximising user conversion and thus providing a practical solution for the problem.