SIGCHI Conference Paper Format - TU Berlin

An integrative approach on
the user experience of interaction
ABSTRACT
The design of the user experience has increasingly become
a goal in developing interactive systems over the last years.
Since then, several attempts have been made to broaden
HCI’s traditional focus on the efficient achievement of
goals to better understand additional aspects that contribute
to the user experience. This research combines the
investigation of additional quality aspects like hedonics and
aesthetics and their interplay with affect and emotions as
important parts of the user experience. An integrative
model is described and first empirical results about the
influence of non-instrumental quality aspects are presented.
Thus, in next steps, this research will combine methods for
measuring emotional aspects and relevant quality
dimensions to further understand the user experience of
interaction.
Author Keywords
User experience, perceived quality of use, emotional
design, aspects of experience.
ACM Classification Keywords
H5.2. User Interfaces: Evaluation/methodology, Theory and
methods.
INTRODUCTION
Definitions of usability [1] focus on tasks and goals, their
efficient achievement and the involved cognitive
information processing. Different approaches have been
made to go beyond this understanding and consider other
aspects of the interaction like non-instrumental quality
aspects [2] and the role of affect and emotions to better
understand people’s experience of technology.
Sascha Mahlke
Prospective Interaction Design Group
Center of Human-Machine-Systems
Berlin University of Technology
Jebensstr. 1, 10623 Berlin, Germany
sascha.mahlke@zmms.tu-berlin.de
1
Perceived quality aspects: Jordan [3] argued for a
hierarchical organization of user needs and claimed that
next to the functionality and usability of a product, different
aspects of pleasure are important to enhance users’
interaction with the product. Further analyses studied
selected non-instrumental quality aspects of interactive
systems in detail, like hedonic quality [4] or visual
aesthetics [5].
Affect and emotions: Recently, the term emotional design
[6] gained significant attention. Desmet & Hekkert [7] went
a step further by presenting an explicit model of emotions
according to product perception. Zhang & Li [8] studied the
concept of affective quality as the ability of interactive
systems to cause changes in one’s affect.
In this way different aspects of the user experience were
studied individually for a more in-depth understanding.
However, to study the user experience of interactive
systems as a whole these various aspects have to be
integrated to fully understand users’ experience of
interaction. Below, the approach of this research to
integrate and advance the considerations described is
presented.
MODEL OF THE USER EXPERIENCE PROCESS
The basic user experience process presented in Figure 1
integrates relevant parts of the user experience and provides
the basis for further research. The processing of information
about the quality of use on relevant experience dimensions
(2) is defined as one part within the basic user experience
process. On the one hand, this information processing is
influenced by the qualities of the interactive system (1). The
(1) System
qualities
(2) Experience
dimensions
(4) Affect and
emotions
(3) Consequences
of experience,
e.g. judgments,
behavior,...
Fig. 1 Basic user experience process
(solid: studied so far, dashed: not studied yet)

user perceives these qualities within the interaction with the
system. On the other hand, this information processing
leads to various consequences of experience (3), such as the
behavior of the user, e.g. the usage of the system, or
judgments.
Affect and emotions (4) play another important role as parts
of the user experience and show a complex interplay with
the cognitive processing on the experience dimensions. A
direct influence of system attributes on affect and emotions
and their impact on consequences of the experience can not
been excluded based on current research. Another important
question is about the distinction between immediate
affective reactions while using the interactive system and
emotions as consequences of product use [2].
EMPIRICAL RESEARCH TO DATE
As part of this research one study examined the role of
subjectively perceived factors of the experience of website
usage in forming an intention to use a website [9]. Four
experience dimensions perceived usefulness, ease of use,
hedonic quality and visual attractiveness, representing the
cognitive part of the user experience were investigated in
the domain of websites. Perceived usefulness and ease of
use are defined in Davis’ Technology Acceptance Model
[10] as the main factors of the acceptance of a system.
Hassenzahl et al. [4] studied the importance of hedonic
quality aspects of software defined as non task-related
aspects like originality or innovativeness. V. d. Heijden
[11] considered the influence of perceived visual
attractiveness in a website context. The intention to use as a
predictor of system usage was studied as one consequence
of the user experience [10].
The results showed that the scale characteristics of all
scales used in the study to measure the described
dimensions showed high reliability. A factor analysis of the
perceived usefulness, ease of use, hedonic quality and
visual attractiveness items of the questionnaire extracted
four relevant factors. Together, the four factors explained
approx. 79% of the total variance. The results of the factor
analysis showed that users perceived the four assumed
experience aspects consistently and mostly independently.
The intention to use is conceptualized as being formed on
the basis of the individual’s perception of the four
experience dimensions. As expected the regression analysis
to predict the intention to use demonstrated that the
perceived usefulness had a main influence. However, the
other three experience dimensions also contributed
significantly to the intention to use.
NEXT STEPS
In addition to the four experience dimensions that were
integrated so far further concepts may be of importance for
the user experience. Possible concepts in the commercial
website context may be trustworthiness, especially for ecommerce
websites, or the support of social aspects like
communication or cooperation. The relevance of emotion
2
and affect as part of the user experience process has not
been studied within this approach so far. Innovative
methods for measuring emotions during interactive
experiences will be integrated [12]. In the basic user
experience process further consequences of experience
besides the intention to use as a predictor for usage of the
interactive system have to be studied. Judgments and
emotional outcomes are examples of further interesting
categories of consequences.
Further, the transferability of the user experience model to
other domains has not been demonstrated. To test its
potential the experience evaluation method is currently
applied to a very different domain: in-vehicle information
systems. First results show that the assumed basic process
also fits well in this context and helps to understand the
concept of experience of interaction in this domain.
REFERENCES
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