Sports Online Ticketing: The Effects of Navigability and Interactivity on Consumers' Experiences, Attitudes, and Behavioral Intentions

Web-based ticketing has become a prominent source of revenue for sports organizations. Sports fans today are increasingly searching for and purchasing tickets through the Internet. To increase the potential online ticket sales, sports organizations should take the ticketing website as an effective sales tool seriously and provide customers clear ticket information as well as simple and interactive ticket purchasing processes to fulfill their demands. However, little is known about the underlying extent of the ticketing website navigational structure and interactive features. To fill the gap, at least in part, this dissertation employed the proposition of the modality-agency-interactivity-navigability (MAIN) model and the theory of interactive media effects (TIME) as the theoretical basis in a setting of the sports online ticketing. The MAIN model and the TIME model explore the influence of technological affordances (e.g., modality, agency, navigability, and interactivity) of digital media on individuals’ evaluations and perceptions. In the current study, a 2 (navigability: complex vs. simple) × 2 (interactivity: high interactivity vs. no interactivity) between-subjects factorial designed online experiment was conducted to investigate the influence of website navigability and interactivity on customers’ experiences, attitudes toward the website, and ticket purchasing intentions. Moreover, the mediating effect of user experience (UX) and attitude toward the website was also examined. The results first indicated that navigability and interactivity of the ticketing website had significant main effects on participants’ UX and attitudes toward the website respectively. When a ticketing website provided necessary ticket information and links directly with fewer clicks (i.e., simple navigability design), participants generated more positive UX and attitudes toward it than those who browsed the website with complex navigability structure. Similarly, if a ticketing website utilized some interactive functions such as 360° relative seat section viewing, users would perceived more active control over the website and therefore expressed more positive UX and attitudes toward it than those who used the website with no interactive feature. Next, the results suggested that UX is not only a measurement tool, but also an important mediator between the technological affordances (i.e., navigability and interactivity) of the interactive digital media and users. Overall, two main UX constructs, pragmatic UX and hedonic UX, were identified. Under the premise that navigability had a direct effect on both UX and interactivity had a direct effect on hedonic UX, both UX were recognized to have direct and/or indirect (via attitude toward the website) influence on participants’ ticket purchasing intentions. The findings revealed some insights into the fields of sport marketing, user experience, interactive digital media effect, and consumer research theoretically and practically. This dissertation, as one of the pilot studies, advances the current understanding of UX, the MAIN model, and the TIME model by applying them to the sports online ticketing setting and supporting their feasibilities. In addition, this dissertation provides a practical suggestion regarding online ticketing design and attribute. It is expected that the findings from this dissertation can supplement some knowledge of the academia and the sports industry

Can User Experience affect buying intention? A case study on the evaluation of exercise equipment.

Treadmills are increasingly loaded with digital technology for assisting the individual during the workout sessions by providing information for tracking relevant training parameters. Also, this technology makes exercise more pleasurable by keeping the user connected to her/his digital ecosystem (e.g. social networking, access to multimedia content). Although there is an increasing interest in digital technologies to be used in fitness, a cursory literature search shows that the interest towards gym equipment is currently limited to the hardware component, thus making biomechanics the focus of the investigation. Other types of contributions are very rare and mostly focused on the design of tools for special populations (e.g. elderly, disabilities) as well as for promoting physical activity monitoring (eHealth). In the present study information on the perceived usability of the interface was collected and analysed along with opinions about buying intention and estimated pricing. Twenty-three individuals were tested after using a treadmill (Technogym S.p.A.) equipped with an interface allowing equipment and training management, activity monitoring and user entertainment. Results indicated a significant influence of perceived usability of the interface on the intention of buying the whole system, thus suggesting the existence of a ROI of Human-Centred Design strategies

Anticipating user eXperience with a desired product: The AUX framework

Positive user experience (UX) has become a key factor in designing interactive products. It acts as a differentiator which can determine a product’s success on the mature market. However, current UX frameworks and methods do not fully support the early stages of product design and development. During these phases, assessment of UX is challenging as no actual user-product interaction can be tested. This qualitative study investigated anticipated user experience (AUX) to address this problem. Using the co-discovery method, participants were asked to imagine a desired product, anticipate experiences with it, and discuss their views with another participant. Fourteen sub-categories emerged from the data, and relationships among them were defined through co-occurrence analysis. These data formed the basis of the AUX framework which consists of two networks which elucidate 1) how users imagine a desired product and 2) how they anticipate positive experiences with that product. Through this AUX framework, important factors in the process of imagining future products and experiences were learnt, including the way in which these factors interrelate. Focusing on and exploring each component of the two networks in the framework will allow designers to obtain a deeper understanding of the required pragmatic and hedonic qualities of product, intended uses of product, user characteristics, potential contexts of experience, and anticipated emotions embedded within the experience. This understanding, in turn, will help designers to better foresee users’ underlying needs and to focus on the most important aspects of their positive experience. Therefore, the use of the AUX framework in the early stages of product development will contribute to the design for pleasurable UX

User experiences with flexible offices

Different office types provide the preconditions for distinct user experiences. However, research evidence on how users appraise flexible offices such as activity-based or combi offices is not as abundant as in the case of the more traditional open-plan and cell offices. Furthermore, the available literature shows discrepant results between flexible offices. The main difference between traditional and flexible offices is that the design of the latter is intended for users to switch between different shared spaces and workstations oriented to support different activities, needs and preferences. This office design may offer new opportunities and challenges for users as their experiences at work may be influenced by design qualities (or constellations of them) that are not present in traditional offices. I study the experiences of users with flexible offices because I want to understand the influences that the design qualities of office artefacts and spaces have on such experiences, as well as their design implications. In addition, I utilise the acquired knowledge to explore design opportunities for positive user experiences with flexible offices. In this regard, the research angle adopted builds on a UX theoretical background and a practical approach with multiple user studies in real office environments. The findings show that user experiences with flexible offices are influenced by interrelated design qualities of the spaces and artefacts in use, rather than isolated qualities. These (tangible and intangible) qualities define the nature of an artefact, a space, or constellations of them that users experience, for instance the qualities of an office chair vs. a meeting room. Experiences are subjective, but relate to both individual and collective experiences, for example using an ergonomic workstation vs. sharing such workstations. The findings also suggest that designing for user experiences with flexible offices is a highly complex endeavour, and that emphasis should be placed on designing for the experiences of pleasure, community, autonomy, purpose, and control over the environment. Utilising this knowledge to develop and test research prototypes allowed for a richer understanding of the experiential process and its relation to more systemic aspects such as the context of use or the temporality of experiences. Derived from these research activities and their findings, I present in this thesis the tentative SEEX (Stimuli-Evaluation-EXperiential outcome) model of how user experiences take place. This thesis contributes knowledge on theoretical and practical levels for academics and practitioners to continue studying office user experiences from a UX perspective, support informed decisions in the planning, operation, and evaluation of offices, and explore design opportunities for office environments

Enterprise Experience into the Integration of Human-Centered Design and Kanban

he integration of Human-Centered Design (HCD) and Agile Software Development (ASD) promises the development of competitive products comprising a good User Experience (UX). This study has investigated the integration of HCD and Kanban with the aim to gain industrial experiences in a real world context. A case study showed that requirements flow into the development process in a structured manner by adding a design board. To this end, the transparency concerning recurring requirements increased. We contribute to the body of knowledge of software development by providing practical insights into Human-Centered Agile Development (HCAD). On one hand, it is shown that the integration of HCD and Kanban leads to a product with a good UX and makes the development process more human-centered. On the other hand, we conclude that a cross-functional collaboration speeds up product development.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TIN2013-46928-C3-3-RMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad TIN2015-71938-RED