Exploring the design criteria of website interfaces for gender

The interface is the major channel through which users to navigate a website to find information matching their needs; nevertheless, gender-specific preferences for websites interface design have not been sufficiently explored or evaluated based on comprehensive and systematic approaches in past research. This study investigated the website interface design criteria for users of different genders based on usability principles. Undergraduate and graduate students in Taiwan were selected as the target sample. A total of 236 valid questionnaires were analyzed. The results showed significant gender differences in scaling of the importance of website interface design criteria. The three most important website interface design criteria for males were compatibility, minimal action, and flexibility, whereas the three most important design criteria for females were compatibility, learnability, and user guidance. This paper discusses the possible explanations for the gender differences and their implications for website design.