Clarification of Factors Affecting “Simplicity” for Visual Images using Rough Set Theory

Abstract

The expression “simplicity” has diverse usage and understanding in product design. For clarification of such simplicity, this study considers the problem of analyzing simplicity by using two-dimensional visual images composed of some geometric shapes. The first purpose of the study is therefore to extract factors of how people perceive simplicity and the second one is to clarify the combined effect of the factors. In preliminary survey using eighty sample images, thirteen factors are extracted for three categories of shape, composition and tone. With these factors, the first part of the main experiment is carried out to clarify the decision rules in determining simplicity, while in the second part the combined effect of the different factors is evaluated.