Web Design and Assessment for E-Commerce: A Case Study on the Visual Design of a Commercial Homepage

Abstract

The study is based on analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to constitute the evaluation structure and questionnaires for website visual design, with a view to assessing four visual design alternatives published on the homepage of an online shopping. This research concludes: (1) twenty evaluation criteria in relation to website visual design determined through access the relative importance of criteria set as sub-criteria within a hierarchical structure; (2) goal, criteria, and sub-criteria constitute the evaluation model for website visual design. It provides the reference for the industry and relevant researchers when evaluating the candidates of website visual design; and (3) this study adopts fuzzy multiple criteria decision making (FMCDM) with reference to the data analysis. The results can clearly show the preference ranking of decision-makers for proposed design alternatives and the optimal design solution could be selected. Therefore, this analysis method is effective and objectively reflected all of the decision-makers' subjective judgment on website visual design assessment.