Eye Tracking and Web Experience

User experience research aims to understand a user’s point of view. Because eye tracking allows us to literally see through a user’s eyes, it can serve as a valuable tool in web studies, particularly in web design and development. To understand how eye tracking can be pivotal in website studies, this paper scientifically explains how the human visual system works and how eye tracker technologies can record what we register with our eyes. It then explains how web design can benefit from the data that eye tracking studies deliver. Finally, the paper discusses trends for eye tracking in future web experience research

Does Affect Mediate Information Overload?

The problem of information overload and ways to reduce it has been the focus of many researchers in the MIS literature (e.g. Yang et al. 2003, Farhoomand and Drury 2002, Lau et al. 2001, Chan 2001, Lin 2000, Grisé and Gallupe 1999, Tuttle and Burton 1999, Mendelson and Pillai 1998, Iselin 1989). The technological advances of the past few decades in the field of computer science and information technology have made it possible to make large volumes of data available anyplace anytime.1 Although Information Technology (IT) has been instrumental in improving the flow of information it has been also instrumental in creating an overload of this same information for businesses and organizations (Farhoomand and Drury 2002, Mendelson and Pillai 1998). For example, the results of a recent survey of managers in a variety of industries shows that the majority of managers are faced with the problem of information overload on regular basis and complained that information overload has negative effects on their work (Farhoomand and Drury 2002). My dissertation is motivated by the ubiquitous nature and continually growing magnitude of the information overload problem. In this work, I intend to investigate the problem of information overload from a cognitive point of view

User Experience-driven Innovation—Theory and Practice: Introduction to Special Issue

This special issue is motivated by the need for user experience (UX) innovation ecosystems and the difficulty of creating and maintaining them. The papers in this special issue reflect the emerging views of the scholars and industry experts involved in one such UX innovation ecosystem. Authors presented the papers at the 2019 UX Symposium (https://uxsym.org/), an annual conference with the mission to continue to build its vibrant community of scholars and practitioners dedicated to advancing UX theory, education, and practice

Using Audio Augmented Reality to Support Decision Making

Audio augmented reality (AR) is becoming increasingly popular as a medium for communicating additional layers of information about a user’s environment. This extended abstract reports the preliminary results of a study examining the impact of an audio AR enabled mobile decision aid, FoodGlance, on users’ decision quality as well as their overall experience of the decision-making process. Research shows that people often find nutrition facts labels confusing and difficult to use [1]. FoodGlance was designed to make it easier for people to choose healthy products based on their dietary needs and preferences. FoodGlance uses OCR technology to extract textual information from nutrition fact labels and then translates it into simple feedback [2]. In this study, the feedback was provided in three different ways: audio AR, visual, and the combination of the two. Audio AR was provided via Bose glasses. Visual feedback, consistent with our previous study, was displayed as a pop-up on the smartphone showing thumbs up (good amount) or thumps down (bad amount) for sugar, fat, and protein separately [2]. For this study we used the FDA’s 5-20 percent daily value rule to design feedback. The feedback engine in FoodGlance, however, is not limited to this rule and can be modified by users

Interpersonal Model of Online Textual Persuasion

As with other forms of human communication, text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC) media, such as email, instant messaging, and online texting, are often used as a means to persuade others. However, unlike most other media, which feature structural bias in their support for either interpersonal or broadcast communication modes, text- based CMC supports both modes. As a result, CMC text messages frequently have ambiguous origins. We argue that individuals respond to this ambiguity by categorizing these messages based on characteristics that distinguish interpersonal messages from broadcast messages, and receivers tend to comply to a greater extent with those messages that they perceive as interpersonal. Based on these arguments, we present a fundamentally new online textual persuasion model. In empirically testing the model in an online experiment that we assessed with structural equation modeling, we found that it exhibited strong explanatory power and additional utility in augmenting existing online persuasion models. The results offer important theoretical contributions to human-computer interaction research generally and provide practical specific insights for improving persuasive communication via text-based CMC

The Relationship of Demographics to Consumers’ Use of an Extended Range of E-Health Services

E-health usage is often studied at the level of online health portals, which is invaluable in understanding how these important portals are utilized by various health consumers. However, this approach does not provide information about usage of the underlying ehealth services, which is crucial in improving the overall success of e-health portals. In this study, we examine variations in use of 12 distinct e-health services based on five demographic factors: age, gender, race/ethnicity, income, and education. Our results highlight the need for examining usage of distinct e-health services. They also show that demographic factors can play a significant role in how these services are used. Because the results of our study provide a fine-grained picture of e-health usage, they extend those studies and observations that are based on overall use of e-health portals or personal health records. Hence, our results provide important insights for the design, development, and management of specific e-health services, which in turn can improve the overall success of e-health portals

Interpersonality and Online Persuasion

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) media, such as email, instant messaging, and online texting, provide an important channel for influencing message receivers\u27 behavior. While most communication media are structurally biased to support either interpersonal or broadcast modes of communication CMC easily supports both. We argue that receivers are likely to base the decision to comply with a CMC message on certain characteristics that distinguish interpersonal communication from broadcast communication. Drawing from interdisciplinary theories, we propose a model that predicts receivers’ intention to comply with a CMC message based upon interpersonality, a concept we develop and explain in this paper. Results of empirical testing show that our proposed model has strong explanatory power. The results have important theoretical contributions to IS research and also provide practical insights for improving the effectiveness of CMC