Unit 5
Collaborative Discussion Post: Halo Effect
Human emotions can affect the user experience, a fact which contributes to the complexity of user satisfaction with a product. Further complicating the process is the fact that user emotions on the first use of a product are likely to be different to their emotions once they become more experienced.
Read Gu et al (2023) and discuss whether you agree with the authors that their findings can improve the accuracy of subjective evaluation.
Halo effect is a phenomenon where the impressions gained from positive characteristics of an object influence the perception of unrelated traits (Neugaard, 2026). The research conducted by Gu et al. (2023) is aimed to measure whether and how the influence of the effect decreases over time. In the research, the influence of visual aesthetics decreased steadily over time, whereas usability of a product had increasing effect.
Indeed, it is easier for products with appealing visuals to attract new users: it is faster to judge the book by its cover than to attempt a thorough research into user experience of a new product. However, after the visual novelty wears off, usability becomes an important factor for the long-term use of a product. Thus, to produce a more objective review, respondents need to collect more experience in using it to better understand both the upsides and the downsides of a solution.
In development and marketing of a product the halo effect may be useful specifically for attracting new audience: depending on the specific market, the impression that a solution leaves, whether it seems to be professional and comprehensive, or, conversely, simple and welcoming, may be a deciding factor for a potential customer. However, for user retention it is important that functionality and usability support this first impression when the user becomes more focused on these aspects.
References
Gu, Q., Tang, W. and Xue, C. (2023) ‘The Effect of Time Lapse on the Halo Effect in the Subjective Evaluation of Digital Interfaces’, in A. Marcus, E. Rosenzweig, and M.M. Soares (eds) Design, User Experience, and Usability. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, pp. 171–183. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35702-2_12.
Neugaard, B. (2026) ‘Halo effect | Attribution, Perception, Bias | Britannica’. Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/science/halo-effect (Accessed: 24 January 2026).