Through the study of the literature and the observation and analysis of 7 types of commonly used web pages, based on the interpretation of the visual effect of the website home page, the author analyzed and summarized the visual elements of 10 categories of Chinese web pages one by one, and summarized their characteristics and usage. A qualitative research method was adopted overall.

The results show apparent visual features in Chinese web pages, including layout, style, navigation, color, and LOGO. However, the usage and characteristics of the elements of text, pictures, ICONS, advertisements, and so on are influenced by the website's type, positioning, and theme. Hence, the usage and visual differences of the same element between different websites are significant.

Overall, China's web page visual effect design is becoming more and more mature. According to the different types of websites, positioning, and theme, each website shows different visual style characteristics. Specific analysis of the characteristics of various elements of China's current web interface can help designers quickly design the web visual effect that aligns with the current popular characteristics.

Literature Review

Since Microsoft released the first GUI system in 1985, the GUI has become a tool for easy and quick use for the masses [1]. Scholars and related practitioners worldwide are constantly innovating and exploring network interface design, and various design concepts and principles are constantly emerging. With the popularity of the Internet in China and the increase of Chinese Internet users, the demand for web design among Chinese users is also increasing. The author believes that a country's unique culture must have an impact in all aspects. Web art design is the ideological change of human beings in different cultural backgrounds and is no exception.

As early as 1997, Hofstead has already proposed the specific details of China in terms of cultural dimensions: Chinese culture is characterized by high uncertainty avoidance, high power distance, obvious long-term orientation, and collectivism [2].

Xiaowen Fang & Pei-Luen Patrick Rau proposed that Chinese people tend to classify them according to their interdependence and relationships. Chinese thinking is often synthetic, concrete, and still on the edge of the visible world. They tend to show a holistic cognitive style rather than partially looking at things or phenomena.

NurayAykin [3] affirmed the influence of cultural differences on web page design, adopted comprehensive research methods, and conducted an in-depth analysis of the cultural differences in the website from the perspective of management and information display (text language, number, name, address, color, layout). However, because the article was published early, some of NurayAykin's views need to be more consistent with the actual situation in today's China. For example, familiarity with the Windows interface is now an acceptable problem.

Choi et al. found that Asian (high context) participants relied on visual elements in the interface to a mobile text service [4].

In a high-context culture, videos, sounds, and emoticons will be used more frequently. That is unnecessary in low-context cultures. Typically, Eastern cultures strongly emphasize context information (such as nonverbal behavior and participant relationships) to aid in comprehension [5]. 

Min Choy (Adrian) TONG [6] has established a system structure to analyze the Malaysian government and non-government websites through language, layout, symbol, color, image, and sound/music to meet the interface needs of three different cultural user groups. His research fully affirms culture's influence on user interface design and proposes page elements that need to be considered in visual design.

Dianne Cyr [7] compares Chinese, German, and Canadian online sales sites horizontally. Proposing websites with a collectivist culture, visual design, carefully designed and beautiful will give Chinese users better satisfaction and trust and increased loyalty to using websites.

Eight areas were listed by Hsiu Ching Hsieh et al. as the design components of cultural preferences: visual performance, multimedia, colour, layout, navigation, links, content and structure, and language. In order to satisfy the cultural expectations of users from a particular culture, they suggested combining these elements [8].

The results of a study by Hsu [9] show that the critical design factors that users are concerned about are " the title or logo, promotion of image, the convenience of information display, willingness to read, color, structure, attraction, layout, availability, hyperlink and readability of text."Then two key factors affecting the user evaluation were identified: emotional and functional factors.

Shuqing Liu, Tianyi Liang, Shuai Shao et al. [10] proposed that culture also affects how people interact with computers because human-computer interaction is communication. Their findings revealed that design elements differed significantly, including layout, navigation, links, multimedia, text, and colour. These variations show how culture affects web design.

More and more researchers and designers began to design web visions with Chinese characteristics. However, most of the studies use simple visual pattern design, as Yang Jingfei, in his paper, "Traditional Style and Visual Aesthetics of Web Design," mentions the traditional Chinese ink style, white space, and traditional patterns, including New Year pictures, paper cuts, shadow puppets, and facial makeup in Chinese operas [11].

This phenomenon also appeared in Tang Jianjun's paper called Initial Exploration of the Localization of Contemporary Chinese Web Design [12] and Yuan Ke's paper in Comparative Research on The Web Interface Design of Social Network Between China and Western Based on Cultural Experience [13]. Song Lifang [14] put forward that the process of web design should be based on the Chinese national culture, inherit the essence of traditional Chinese ink painting art, constantly seek innovation and development, and closely integrate ink painting elements with web design with the composition, artistic conception and color of ink and wash elements, to realize the development and brilliance of modern web design.

Generally, visual web design based on Chinese culture is still in the use stage of graphic elements with Chinese characteristics. However, many scholars have explicitly proposed elements in the web interface to note to optimize interface design. Layout, style, navigation, color, text, pictures, LOGO, icons, ads, audio, and video are the common elements in the visual web interface.

Research Questions and Methods

Through the study of the reference, the author summarizes the visual elements of contemporary Chinese web pages, including layout, style, navigation, color, text, picture, LOGO, icon, advertising, and audio and video.

The specific research questions raised are as follows:

• What are the main layout characteristics of contemporary Chinese web pages

• What is the popular style of contemporary Chinese web pages

• What are the characteristics of the navigation mode of contemporary Chinese web pages

• What are the Commonly used colors of contemporary Chinese web pages

• What are the characteristics of the text in the contemporary Chinese web pages

• What are the characteristics of the pictures in the contemporary Chinese web pages

• What are the characteristics of the LOGO in contemporary Chinese web pages

• What are the characteristics of the icon in contemporary Chinese web pages

• What is the advertising usage in contemporary Chinese web pages

• What is the audio and video usage in contemporary Chinese web pages

Through the observation and analysis of the literature and the observation of 7 types of common web pages (4 representative websites in each category), the author summarizes the characteristics and usage of 10 types of Chinese web pages in contemporary times. The method of collecting primary and secondary data was used in the study process. The study for the literature belongs to the secondary data. Observation and analysis of web pages are descriptive and primary data. A qualitative research method was adopted overall.

The seven commonly used websites are portal websites, e-commerce websites, community websites, government service websites, people's livelihood websites, banking and financial websites, and cultural publicity websites. Based on the interpretation of the visual effect of the website's home page, the different visual elements are analyzed and summarized one by one.

4.1 The 三-type layout is used most frequently, followed by III, T, and C-type. Many websites mainly adopt one layout type but combine with other types in part areas. That means that China's web interface is dominated by one layout type, assisting in simultaneously using multiple layout types.

4.2 The flat style is the current popular style of Chinese websites, and most web pages use this design style. Specific design style according to the website type, positioning, the theme of the distinct differences. This performance shows that the visual design of the Chinese website has developed to a particular stage and can keep up with the trend of the time in general. The type of website, positioning, theme, and other characteristics will determine the website's style.

4.3 All the sites use a complex navigation mode. Except for the part of the bank and financial websites using the hang navigation bar at the top, others are using the immobilization navigation bar at the top. The top navigation bar is often the same width as the web page. Some sites also occasionally use hanging navigation in other locations. Those sites' main navigation mode uses plane, tree, or both. Recommended navigation is also the navigation mode used by all websites. In addition to search navigation, breadcrumbs navigation is also using very frequently. Some sites also use Tab navigation and map-style navigation. The navigation mode of the homepage of the Chinese website is a compound combination of various navigation modes, and the combination mode and location of all kinds of navigation are more flexible and diversified.

4.4 Red and blue are used the most frequently in all the sites, followed by green. Orange and yellow are mainly used as additional colors. The web page's background color is mostly white or gray, and there is usually no color difference between the version's core background color and the extensive background color. However, some sites divide the web background into multiple parts, and different parts arrange content for different topics. Some websites will use a variety of colors in order to create a relaxed and lively feel.

4.5 Overall, all the sites mainly use the Microsoft Yahei font, considering that it is the default font for the system. Because the website type, positioning, and theme differ, the size and the amount of the website text differ.

4.6 Due to the different types of websites, positioning, and themes, the number of pictures, location, size, and content style of different websites will also be different. Most sites have banners, but banner sizes vary. The vast majority of the banners are placed at the top of the page. The banner width is consistent with the entire page or the version's core, or less than the page width, and is placed in the middle of the page width or the upper left corner. Of course, some banners are also in the middle of the page length. Overall, the size, shape, and position of the banner are flexible and diverse, and the design will be flexible to change according to the actual situation of the web page. However, most of the banners have the carousel effect.

4.7 All websites have LOGO, and the LOGO position is in the upper left corner. Some LOGO uses or borrows other badge graphics in combination with other signs. Most logos are flat design style, and simulated and 3D effects are occasionally used. Graphic + text or pure text logo is its main form. Some websites use traditional Chinese patterns or brush characters effect, to a large extent, using traditional elements with Chinese characteristics. Those LOGOs uses blue, red, green, and yellow most frequently. Some website Logos are first designed to be used on websites, while some Logos are designed to be used in other areas and then used on web pages. As a representative of a brand or a thing, the LOGO can reflect the core of the thing to the greatest extent. So it is very representative. Currently, most of the logos used on the web page are carefully designed, which shows that Chinese designers and enterprises are paying more attention to this field, and the design requirements and development levels are getting higher and higher.

4.8 Different types of website icons are used differently. ICONS of portal websites, government service websites, and e-commerce and cultural publicity home pages are rarely used. Nevertheless, the home pages of people's livelihood websites, banking and financial websites, and community websites use ICONS more. The illustration style and flat style are the common styles of ICONS. In addition, three-dimensional, gradual change, projection, and other styles are used in small quantities. The number and size of the ICONS of different websites vary, even if the size of the icons between different groups of the same website will vary. Most of the ICONS are the same as the main color of the web page. However, sometimes, some websites will use various colors on the ICONS to form a particular color style or create a positive visual effect. Some sites use gray icons.

4.9 Due to the different types and themes of websites, some categories have no or little advertising, such as government service websites and cultural propaganda websites have almost no advertising. However, there is a small amount of advertising on some websites, such as e-commerce, banking, and financial websites. Moreover, some portal websites and people's livelihood websites have advertising too. Some web pages have fixed areas for advertising. These advertisements usually come with jump links. Therefore, whether there is advertising and the amount of advertising is generally determined by the nature of the website.

4.10 Most websites have no video and audio, but a few pages have embedded links to jump to the video play page. There are videos on the home page of a few websites. After clicking, the video play box can pop up or play in the original position. Only very few websites can play the videos with the carousel effect. Thus, only a few Chinese websites' home pages have videos and audio.

A country's unique culture inevitably affects its web pages' visual effects. So a country's web interface will show its style and characteristics. Based on the literature study and observation method, the author determined the web visual elements in this study (layout, style, navigation, color, text, picture, image, LOGO, icon, advertising, and video and audio ) and observed and analyzed seven types of commonly used web pages, summarizing the characteristics and usage of these ten categories of Chinese web visual elements.

The results show that the Chinese web interface is mainly dominated by one layout type, simultaneously assisting using multiple layout types. 三-type layout is the most commonly used in Chinese websites. Plane style is the popular style of current Chinese websites. All sites use complex navigation modes, and the navigation modes' locations and combinations are more flexible and diverse. Red and blue were the most frequently used among all the sites surveyed, followed by green. Orange and yellow are mainly used as additional colors. Most logos use the flat design style, with the graphic + text or plain text logo as its primary form, and some websites use the traditional element LOGO with Chinese characteristics. Illustrated styles and flat styles are common styles of icons. Due to the website's different types, positioning, and themes, the character size and content of the website text are also different. At the same time, the pictures' type, number, size, and location are also different, and the number and size of the website ICONS are also different. At the same time, whether there is advertising, the number of advertisements usually depends on the nature of the website. Most sites have no video and audio, but pages with embedded links can jump to the video playback page. 

Overall, according to the different types of websites, positioning, and theme, each website shows different visual style characteristics. This performance also demonstrates that Chinese websites' visual effect design is increasingly mature. According to China's current web interface features, the specific analysis of each element can effectively help designers quickly design the web visual effect that aligns with the current popular characteristics.

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