Does the Design Style Influence the Perception of Product Performance Charts?

Product performance charts are commonly seen in the product reviews published on the relevant web sites, magazines, and other public media. They are aimed at helping consumers understand the similarities and differences among the gathered products. This study investigates whether the design style influences the perception of the product performance charts. And this paper presents the result of an initial experiment that evaluates three chart types, including bar charts, count charts, and radar charts. The result shows that the participants may evaluate a product differently if presented with different design style. The result of this initial experiment provides some interesting insights. Further investigations that follow will include the dimensional factors and the more in-depth analysis of how a consumer responds to product performance charts.