A model for evaluating affective relationships in distributed work.

Distributed work; Performance; Evaluation; Relation interpersonnel;

The Factors Influencing Online Behaviors in Experiential Environments

While most research on website has focused on functional tasks, the Internet offers many leisure as well as experiential opportunities. Because of the evolution of the society towards an experience economy, analyzing the role of technologies in experiential contexts makes sense. User experience (UX) refers to research that “goes beyond the purely cognitive and task-oriented perspective” that is generally assumed when studying information systems (Hassenzahl and Tractinsky 2006, p. 92). This research aims at identifying the variables that play a role and influence online behaviors in a specific experiential environment, namely museum website. In fact, museums are among the most valued cultural institutions in the world and their attendance has been growing since the end of the 80’s. Museum attendance generates the highest participation rates, just after cinema, reading and sports (Schuster 2007). In order to assess website design, we rely on the conceptualization of usability developed by Agarwal and Venkatesh (2002) and adapted from Microsoft Usability Guidelines. However, our conceptualization of website usability for museums takes the position that aesthetics is missing from MUG scales. Relying on the literature on experience, we propose a research model that was tested by means of a free simulation experiment (Fromkin and Streufert 1976). Two museum websites were selected for the free simulations: the website of the Quai Branly Museum (France), and the other interface was the Atlanta History Center (USA). The sample of this study consisted of 230 college students from two different countries. The results of the free simulation experiments indicate that 1) aesthetics is the most important design criteria for experiential interfaces and 2) that website design influences intentions to visit a physical place. Subjective norms and facilitating conditions appear to be two additional predictors of intentions to visit the museum. But national culture plays a minor role in our research model

A User-Centered Perspective on Information Technologies in Museums

Information Technology (IT) has been put forth as a reasonable way to sustain visitor interest and encourage visit repetition in museums. Therefore, IT is becoming more common in museum settings and professionals express their need for more information about how their visitors interact with these systems. This dissertation is an attempt to answer this call. We propose three essays that deal with different aspects of museums and IT from a user-centered perspective. The first essay is an attempt to determine with a free simulation experiment how IT and more particularly websites can arouse interest for museological content. The second essay relies on a field study to analyze the influence of IT on affective and cognitive reactions during a museum visit, namely perceived enjoyment, perceived authenticity and learning. In the third essay, we use focus groups and questionnaires to explore visitor expectations towards a phenomenological experience and the role played by IT in visitor experience of the past. This dissertation contributes to research by (1) advancing our knowledge of IT dedicated to the cultural heritage area, and (2) identifying and understanding visitor perceptions of hedonic systems. By proposing a set of key dimensions that could be used for IT evaluation in the cultural heritage, this dissertation also offers actionable advices to museum professionals

How Web 2.0 Tools Impact The Museum-Visitor Relationship

Cultural institutions such as museums increasingly rely on social media to achieve their missions. However, little attention has been paid to museums\u27 strategies of communication with social media. Even if some research has focused more on visitor experience, there has been neither a particular stress on visitors\u27 experience with social media nor on an evaluation of museums\u27 strategies with these tools. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to explore how museums use social media to enhance their relationship with visitors and to determine if visitor empowerment is real. Since information systems (IS) research has paid scant attention to the role played by social media in museums\u27 strategies, our work inprogress can help to fill this gap. This study has practical implications as well, because we try to identify how social media can help museums to be more competitive

The Role of Authenticity in the Experience of Visitors Interacting with Museum Technologies

Cultural places such as museums tend to rely on Information Technologies (IT) to support their exhibition and communication to the public. Although technology has undeniable advantages for museums and their visitors, it is not evident that IT contributes both to more enjoyment and to an experience of authenticity. Indeed, little attention has been paid to user reactions with hedonic systems available in cultural heritage sites. The objective of this research is to assess affective and cognitive reactions of museum visitors interacting with IT. We also try to determine the role played by authenticity in visitor interactions with museum technologies. To test our hypotheses, a free simulation experiment was conducted at a French national museum where 184 questionnaires were completed. The results indicate that technologies are not incompatible with perceptions of authenticity and that IT can contribute to edutainment experiences of visitors

Teaching case: Influences of six sigma embracement and abondenment

Providing visitors with a valuable experience of the past has become a crucial mission for cultural heritage institutions. The experience of the past is one where visitors understand the museum’s communications about the meaning of artefacts and where visitors undertake an active role in interpretation and reflection on the past. Several studies promote technologies as a good way for museums to reenergize their relationships with their visitors. But even as some research has concentrated more and more on visitor experiences, this work has neither particularly stressed on visitors’ experience of the past nor on their evaluation of museum technologies with respect to their potential for engendering a better experience of the past. Monod and Klein (2005) elaborated a phenomenological framework with six criteria to evaluate IT used in the cultural heritage. Since it has not been empirically “validated” yet, the objective of this paper is to employ these criteria with samples of users of museum technologies and in the process determine whether these criteria can be met by IT. Our field study indicates that technologies available in museums positively contribute to an experience of the past

Crisis Response and IT Use Literature Review and Suggestions for Future Research

Crisis response highly depends on managers’ use of information technologies (IT). Given the growing frequency of crisis, it is urgent to concretely investigate IT use in crisis response. Still, crisis characteristics have been tacitly overlooked in the literature on IT usage. As a result, both researchers and managers rely on a routine view of IT usage that does not match to the reality of crisis. Knowledge on IT usage in crisis response is missing and managers lack specific recommendations regarding IT use. The objective of this paper is to respond to that gap by proposing a literature review of the variables that affect crisis response and are likely to differ from routine to crisis situation. From this review, we suggest some potential questions for future research on IT usage. Doing so, we promote more salient recommendations on IT use to managers and IT professionals

The Love of Art vs. Website Design: An Application of Bourdieu\u27s Theory in Online Environments

Several IS studies have shown that well-designed websites positively influence users, capturing visitor attention and encouraging return behaviors. However, little attention has been paid to non commercial and cultural websites such as museum websites. This study draws on human-computer interaction literature and sociology of culture to determine the influence of website design on museum visitor intentions. Two free-simulation experiments were conducted with American and French college students who were invited to visit a museum website and express their opinions through a web questionnaire. The results suggest that website design can encourage museum visits, actualizing in this way the list of factors identified by Bourdieu and Darbel (1969). However, the socio-cultural factors, namely prior experience, museum interest and subjective norms, still play an important role that balance IT effects

Technology Embodiment: The Contribution of Heidegger\u27s Phenomenology

The rapid evolution, expansion, and integration of technology into our everyday lives changes the way that we understand the relationship between technology and people. A dualistic relationship, with technology at one end and people at the other, no longer serves as a clear approach in understanding why and how we engage technology. As such, we must seek new forms of understanding as technology has become truly part and parcel of who we are, how we connect with our past, and how we shape our future. We use Heidegger\u27s phenomenology for understanding the relationship between technology and people, investigating why and how people engage hedonic systems in the formation of embodied technology relationships. In this qualitative study we contribute to research on both hedonic systems and phenomenology, evidencing characteristics of how people constitute an embodied relationship with the technology that has become so pervasive in their lifeworld