Designing an enhanced web user experience: the use of "emotional probes" as a user-centred methodology for designing emotionally-engaged web interaction.

Chang, Tsen-Yao

Abstract

This research project explores the importance of balancing aesthetics and usability of Web design to enhance user experience. It aims to develop an effective methodology to better understand the dimensions of users' emotions, experienced in interaction with Web pages. The proposed methodological approach, called "Emotional Probes" (EPs), combines ethnographic surveys with the Cultural Probes (CPs) approach. The EPs method is applied to investigate the ongoing phenomenon of Web communication, for the impact of emotional factors on users has received insufficient attention from Web designers and researchers. The shift in communication - from person-to-person, to person-to-computer interactions - has created a demand for Web designers to be more aware of users' emotional responses. The dominant user experience research paradigm in Computer Mediated Communications (CMC), influenced by Human Computer Interaction (HCI) methodologies, focuses on usability. Usability engineering understands user experiences primarily in cognitive or behaviourist terms. Recent years, however, have seen growing interest in seeking alternative perspectives capable of embodying human emotional experiences during design, using ethnographic methods to understand users' needs, perspectives, and experiential preferences. Following these new directions, this thesis employs CPs and rapid ethnography to develop a hybrid contextual strategy—EPs, which is used to explore users' emotional experiences in the use of Web-based visual communication. This study provides an in-depth review of users' emotional engagements with Web interface technologies. It describes the development and the application of methods with creative practices, such as mood board, drawing, and think-aloud techniques. The results of this research contribute to the field by: 1) proposing a framework for modelling users' emotional experience of the visual impacts of Web interfaces; 2) providing a methodological rationale for designers; 3) utilising "EPs" as a design/research toolkit for user experience studies; and 4) producing more emotionally-engaging communication between designers and users of websites. For future research concerning user experience, extending the application of "EPs" to the design process will provide Web designers with more creative inspiration and insight in their efforts to enhance users' visual and emotional experiences.

Citation

CHANG, T.-Y. 2006. Designing an enhanced web user experience: the use of "emotional probes" as a user-centred methodology for designing emotionally-engaged web interaction. Robert Gordon University, PhD thesis. Hosted on OpenAIR [online]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.48526/rgu-wt-1688411

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Jun 17, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 17, 2022
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.48526/rgu-wt-1688411
• Keywords: User experience; Web design; Emotional response; Human computer interaction; User-centred design
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1688411
• Additional Information: Both volumes of this thesis have been combined into a single file.
• Award Date: Aug 31, 2006