The intention to use mobile digital library technology: A focus group study in the United Arab Emirates

IGI Global (“IGI”) granted Brunel University London the permission to archive this article in BURA (http://bura.brunel.ac.uk).This paper presents a qualitative study on student adoption of mobile library technology in a developing world context. The findings support the applicability of a number of existing constructs from the technology acceptance literature, such as perceived ease of use, social influence and trust. However, they also suggest the need to modify some adoption factors previously found in the literature to fit the specific context of mobile library adoption. Perceived value was found to be a more relevant overarching adoption factor than perceived usefulness for this context. Facilitating conditions were identified as important but these differed somewhat from those covered in earlier literature. The research also uncovered the importance of trialability for this type of application. The findings provide a basis for improving theory in the area of mobile library adoption and suggest a number of practical design recommendations to help designers of mobile library technology to create applications that meet user needs

Airline E-commerce user experience experiment: An investigation of Thai LCCs passengers' purchasing behaviour among different online platforms

Purpose: This study examines the current state of the airline’s e-commerce platforms and seek to identify their benefits and disadvantages in the aspect of user experience. Design/methodology/approach: The study commenced by first reviewing the literatures on actual sale figure from the studied Thai LCC, user interface (UI) and user experience (UX). It then proceeded to gather the empirical evidences using questionnaires from 135 active air passengers who have online purchasing experience. The composite findings from literature review and surveys were then used to design and apply for the final phase which is a series of in-depth interviews of air passengers on their usability test sessions and experts from the related industries. Coding and clustering was utilised to analyse the qualitative data obtained. Findings: The study examines the differences in online ticket purchasing platforms including airline's website, mobile-site and mobile application. The results identified five areas of factors: physical, trust, willingness to learn, context of use and adjustment. With regard to these factors, there are no single platform that outperform others. Airlines need to ensure that UX/UI of all platforms meet the users’ requirements in all circumstances. Originality/value: The study reveals the customer thinking processes on online purchasing behaviour. It focuses on web-usability and user experience of different booking platforms. The findings allow the subjected LCC to improve customer experience and optimise its platforms. The paper could also benefit other entrepreneurs who are in the related industry or similar contexts. In addition, the study of user-experience in the context of airline industry, particularly in the emerging countries like Thailand is limited.Peer Reviewe

Mobile Life: A Research Foundation for Mobile Services

The telecom and IT industry is now facing the challenge of a second IT-revolution, where the spread of mobile and ubiquitous services will have an even more profound effect on commercial and social life than the recent Internet revolution. Users will expect services that are unique and fully adapted for the mobile setting, which means that the roles of the operators will change, new business models will be required, and new methods for developing and marketing services have to be found. Most of all, we need technology and services that put people at core. The industry must prepare to design services for a sustainable web of work, leisure and ubiquitous technology we can call the mobile life. In this paper, we describe the main components of a research agenda for mobile services, which is carried out at the Mobile Life Center at Stockholm University. This research program takes a sustainable approach to research and development of mobile and ubiquitous services, by combining a strong theoretical foundation (embodied interaction), a welldefined methodology (user-centered design) and an important domain with large societal importance and commercial potential (mobile life). Eventually the center will create an experimental mobile services ecosystem, which will serve as an open arena where partners from academia and industry can develop our vision an abundant future marketplace for future mobile servíces

Critical review of the e-loyalty literature: a purchase-centred framework

Over the last few years, the concept of online loyalty has been examined extensively in the literature, and it remains a topic of constant inquiry for both academics and marketing managers. The tremendous development of the Internet for both marketing and e-commerce settings, in conjunction with the growing desire of consumers to purchase online, has promoted two main outcomes: (a) increasing numbers of Business-to-Customer companies running businesses online and (b) the development of a variety of different e-loyalty research models. However, current research lacks a systematic review of the literature that provides a general conceptual framework on e-loyalty, which would help managers to understand their customers better, to take advantage of industry-related factors, and to improve their service quality. The present study is an attempt to critically synthesize results from multiple empirical studies on e-loyalty. Our findings illustrate that 62 instruments for measuring e-loyalty are currently in use, influenced predominantly by Zeithaml et al. (J Marketing. 1996;60(2):31-46) and Oliver (1997; Satisfaction: a behavioral perspective on the consumer. New York: McGraw Hill). Additionally, we propose a new general conceptual framework, which leads to antecedents dividing e-loyalty on the basis of the action of purchase into pre-purchase, during-purchase and after-purchase factors. To conclude, a number of managerial implementations are suggested in order to help marketing managers increase their customers’ e-loyalty by making crucial changes in each purchase stage

An analysis into early customer experiences of self-service checkouts:lessons for improved usability

The research aims to examine the perceptions of relative novice users of self-service checkouts (SSCOs) and if these perceptions change before, during and following use. Employing a diary approach with 31 respondents relatively unfamiliar with SSCOs, the research will document their experiences with this technology across stationary, hardware and grocery stores in two Scottish cities (Glasgow and Dundee). Findings suggest that the majority of respondents were motivated to use the technology because of time saving and convenience. However, the actual experience of using SSCOs was not always considered quicker when compared to staffed checkouts because of technical issues, lack of staff assistance and the impersonal, sometimes stressful and controlled nature of the cramped SSCO environment. Following post-use reflections, the majority of respondents’ opinions did not change from their initial perceptions and indicated that they would prefer not to use the technology in the future. Based on the findings, this study makes some practical suggestions centring on the design and usability of SSCOs, which may go some way to reducing customer dissatisfaction and frustration with the technology, especially from the perspective of new users of the technology

Designing a mobile application interface to support mid-career professionals in creating better financial futures

South Africans borrow more and save less than other nations (Discovery Bank, 2018). One reason is a lack of financial knowledge. If a mobile application could guide individuals to modify their financial habits slightly by spending less and saving more, they could dramatically improve their financial future. When designing visualisation systems such as a mobile application interface, users' qualitative design feedback and quantitative usability evaluation are both important and complementary. The benefit of usability feedback in software development is undisputed. The importance of qualitative design feedback from users however, seems to be controversial in Science. Gathering users' qualitative design feedback, ahead of usability evaluation, can have a substantial impact on downstream development costs. The researcher used design as a tool for thinking (imagining new possibilities) and communicating (sharing ideas). The purpose was to clarify ways in which a mobile application interface could support users in making better financial decisions and creating better financial futures for themselves and consequently for society. A user centred design (UCD) approach was followed, emphasising design before development, with a strong focus on user involvement in all three phases, namely requirements gathering, design and evaluation. A primary client archetype for mid-career professionals was developed, split into two personas, Alan and Zoe, based on personality and self-rated motivational attributes which were used in an unconventional way to inspire two parallel, diverse designs. In early design stages, before an idea is well formed, producing multiple contrasting designs in parallel and qualitative design feedback from users is beneficial to establishing utility (solving the right problem), tapping into users' domain knowledge, improving the quality of the design and reducing fixation on one idea. Once the concept has been socialised and evolved sufficiently with users' input, converging on one final design and testing usability (solving the problem in the right way) become more important. This research offers two refinements of the UCD process guidelines for the benefit of researchers and practitioners

New Business Model: EWOM (Electronic Word of Mouth) platform Improvements through the Elements lead to success in E commerce platforms

Electronic commerce (e-commerce) is an emerging field that applies technology in commerce. One of the concepts used in electronic commerce is an electronic word of mouth EWOM . Technically, the concept is used to evaluate electronic commerce platforms, services/products, and behaviours. Sometimes EWOM is used as a government initiative to sensitize the citizens. The goal of this research is to improve the methods and activities used in Electronic word of mouth platforms for evaluating e-commerce platforms. Therefore, this research: 1) proposes a framework for Electronic word of mouth; 2) chooses MAROOF.SA as the system to be improved by the new EWOM business model based on the proposed framework; 3) verifies the new EWOM business model through two justifications plans: an experiment and survey. The proposed framework was derived from Starbucks experiment of using electronic commerce , which highlighted three main elements that can be used in the proposed framework. In this paper, co-creations value, usability and payment methods were the three elements considered when improving the working of the MAROOF EWOM Platform

Securing the Elderly: A Developmental Approach to Hypermedia-Based Online Information Security for Senior Novice Computer Users

Whilst security threats to the general public continue to evolve, elderly computer users with limited skill and knowledge are left playing catch-up in an ever-widening gap in fundamental cyber-related comprehension. As a definable cohort, the elderly generally lack awareness of current security threats, and remain under-educated in terms of applying appropriate controls and safeguards to their computers and networking devices. This paper identifies that web-based computer security information sources do not adequately provide helpful information to senior citizen end-users in terms of both design and content