Content and Design Metrics for Web Sites: Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Results

Given the vital importance of the Internet as a communication and transaction channel, the evaluation of Web sites has become a central issue for both information systems researchers and practitioners. In contrast to traditional distribution and communication channels, which are usually adapted to different target groups, a company’s Web site needs to appeal to a multitude of mostly anonymous visitors. Many different metrics have been developed to evaluate a Web site’s quality as perceived by users. This paper explicitly focuses on users’ perceptions of the content and design of Web sites and shows how a Delphi study as well as an exploratory factor analysis can be used to generate and cluster attributes of Web sites. Furthermore, different user groups are identified and clustered according to their preferences into the categories “Entertainment and Design,” “Information,” and “Individualization.”