Showing papers in "International Journal of Human-computer Studies \/ International Journal of Man-machine Studies in 2003"

Predicting e-services adoption: a perceived risk facets perspective

Abstract: Internet-delivered e-services are increasingly being made available to consumers; however, little is known about how consumers evaluate them for potential adoption. Past Technology Adoption Research has focused primarily on the positive utility gains attributable to system adoption. This research extends that approach to include measures of negative utility (potential losses) attributable to e-service adoption. Drawing from Perceived Risk Theory, specific risk facets were operationalized, integrated, and empirically tested within the Technology Acceptance Model resulting in a proposed e-services adoption model. Results indicated that e-services adoption is adversely affected primarily by performance-based risk perceptions, and perceived ease of use of the e-service reduced these risk concerns. Implications of integrating perceived risk into the proposed e-services adoption model are discussed.

The evolution of Protégé: an environment for knowledge-based systems development

Abstract: The Protege project has come a long way since Mark Musen first built the Protege meta-tool for knowledge-based systems in 1987. The original tool was a small application, aimed at building knowledge-acquisition tools for a few specialized programs in medical planning. From this initial tool, the Protege system has evolved into a durable, extensible platform for knowledge-based systems development and research. The current version, Protege-2000, can be run on a variety of platforms, supports customized user-interface extensions, incorporates the Open Knowledge-Base Connectivity (OKBC) knowledge model, interacts with standard storage formats such as relational databases, XML, and RDF, and has been used by hundreds of individuals and research groups. In this paper, we follow the evolution of the Protege project through three distinct re-implementations. We describe our overall methodology, our design decisions, and the lessons we have learned over the duration of the project. We believe that our success is one of infrastructure: Protege is a flexible, well-supported, and robust development environment. Using Protege, developers and domain experts can easily build effective knowledge-based systems, and researchers can explore ideas in a variety of knowledge-based domains.

Predicting the use of web-based information systems: self-efficacy, enjoyment, learning goal orientation, and the technology acceptance model

Abstract: With the growing reliance on computerized systems and increasing rapidity of the introduction of new technologies, user acceptance of technology continues to be an important issue. Drawing upon recent findings in information systems, human computer interaction, and social psychology, the present research extends the technology acceptance model by incorporating the motivation variables of self-efficacy, enjoyment, and learning goal orientation in order to predict the use of Web-based information systems. One hundred nine subjects participated in the study, which was conducted in a field setting with the Blackboard system, a Web-based class management system. A survey was administered after a 2-week trial period and the actual use of the system was recorded by the Blackboard system over 8 weeks. The results largely support the proposed model, highlighting the important roles of self-efficacy, enjoyment, and learning goal orientation in determining the actual use of the system. Practical implications of the results are provided.

On-line trust: concepts, evolving themes, a model

Abstract: Trust is emerging as a key element of success in the on-line environment. Although considerable research on trust in the offline world has been performed, to date empirical study of on-line trust has been limited. This paper examines on-line trust, specifically trust between people and informational or transactional websites. It begins by analysing the definitions of trust in previous offline and on-line research. The relevant dimensions of trust for an on-line context are identified, and a definition of trust between people and informational or transactional websites is presented. We then turn to an examination of the causes of on-line trust. Relevant findings in the human-computer interaction literature are identified. A model of on-line trust between users and websites is presented. The model identifies three perceptual factors that impact on-line trust: perception of credibility, ease of use and risk. The model is discussed in detail and suggestions for future applications of the model are presented.

Emotion and sociable humanoid robots

Abstract: This paper focuses on the role of emotion and expressive behavior in regulating social interaction between humans and expressive anthropomorphic robots, either in communicative or teaching scenarios. We present the scientific basis underlying our humanoid robot's emotion models and expressive behavior, and then show how these scientific viewpoints have been adapted to the current implementation. Our robot is also able to recognize affective intent through tone of voice, the implementation of which is inspired by the scientific findings of the developmental psycholinguistics community. We first evaluate the robot's expressive displays in isolation. Next, we evaluate the robot's overall emotive behavior (i.e. the coordination of the affective recognition system, the emotion and motivation systems, and the expression system) as it socially engages nave human subjects face-to-face.

The role of trust in automation reliance

Abstract: A recent and dramatic increase in the use of automation has not yielded comparable improvements in performance. Researchers have found human operators often underutilize (disuse) and overly rely on (misuse) automated aids (Parasuraman and Riley, 1997). Three studies were performed with Cameron University students to explore the relationship among automation reliability, trust, and reliance. With the assistance of an automated decision aid, participants viewed slides of Fort Sill terrain and indicated the presence or absence of a camouflaged soldier. Results from the three studies indicate that trust is an important factor in understanding automation reliance decisions. Participants initially considered the automated decision aid trustworthy and reliable. After observing the automated aid make errors, participants distrusted even reliable aids, unless an explanation was provided regarding why the aid might err. Knowing why the aid might err increased trust in the decision aid and increased automation reliance, even when the trust was unwarranted. Our studies suggest a need for future research focused on understanding automation use, examining individual differences in automation reliance, and developing valid and reliable self-report measures of trust in automation.

Empirical research in on-line trust: a review and critical assessment

Abstract: Lack of trust is one of the most frequently cited reasons for consumers not purchasing from Internet vendors. During the last four years a number of empirical studies have investigated the role of trust in the specific context of e-commerce, focusing on different aspects of this multi-dimensional construct. However, empirical research in this area is beset by conflicting conceptualizations of the trust construct, inadequate understanding of the relationships between trust, its antecedents and consequents, and the frequent use of trust scales that are neither theoretically derived nor rigorously validated. The major objective of this paper is to provide an integrative review of the empirical literature on trust in e-commerce in order to allow cumulative analysis of results. The interpretation and comparison of different empirical studies on on-line trust first requires conceptual clarification. A set of trust constructs is proposed that reflects, both institutional phenomena (system trust) and personal and interpersonal forms of trust (dispositional trust, trusting beliefs, trusting intentions and trust-related behaviours), thus facilitating a multi-level and multi-dimensional analysis of research problems related to trust in e-commerce.

Affective computing: challenges

Abstract: A number of researchers around the world have built machines that recognize, express, model, communicate, and respond to emotional information, instances of "affective computing." This article raises and responds to several criticisms of affective computing, articulating state-of-the art research challenges, especially with respect to affect in human-computer interaction.

The PROMPT suite: interactive tools for ontology merging and mapping

Abstract: Researchers in the ontology-design field have developed the content for ontologies in many domain areas. This distributed nature of ontology development has led to a large number of ontologies covering overlapping domains. In order for these ontologies to be reused, they first need to be merged or aligned to one another. We developed a suite of tools for managing multiple ontologies. These suite provides users with a uniform framework for comparing, aligning, and merging ontologies, maintaining versions, translating between different formalisms. Two of the tools in the suite support semi-automatic ontology merging: IPROMPT is an interactive ontology-merging tool that guides the user through the merging process, presenting him with suggestions for next steps and identifying inconsistencies and potential problems. ANCHORPROMPT uses a graph structure of ontologies to find correlation between concepts and to provide additional information for IPROMPT.

Pupil size variation as an indication of affective processing

Abstract: The present objective was to investigate pupil size variation during and after auditory emotional stimulation. Thirty subjects' (15 females and 15 males) pupil responses were measured while listening to 10 negative and 10 positive highly arousing sounds (e.g. a baby crying and laughing), and 10 emotionally neutral sounds (e.g. regular office noise). The subjects also rated their subjective experiences related to the stimuli. The results showed that the pupil size was significantly larger during both emotionally negative and positive stimuli than during neutral stimuli. The results for the time period of 2s following the stimulus offset showed that pupil size was significantly larger after both negative and positive than neutral stimulation. These results suggest that the autonomic nervous system is sensitive to highly arousing emotional stimulation. The subjective ratings confirmed that the stimuli influenced the subjects' emotional experiences as expected. Further analyses showed that female subjects had significantly larger pupil responses than males only to neutral stimuli and only during the auditory stimulation. In sum, our results showed that systematically chosen stimuli significantly affected the subjects' physiological reactions and subjective experiences. It could be possible to use pupil size variation as a computer input signal, for example, in affective computing. Auditory emotion-related cues could also be utilized to modulate the user's emotional reactions.

Preparing to resume an interrupted task: effects of prospective goal encoding and retrospective rehearsal

Abstract: We examine people's strategic cognitive responses to being interrupted while performing a task. Based on memory theory, we propose that resumption of a task after interruption is facilitated by preparation during the interruption lag, or the interval between an alert to a pending interruption (e.g. the phone ringing) and the interruption proper (the ensuing conversation). To test this proposal, we conducted an experiment in which participants in a Warning condition received an 8-s interruption lag, and participants in an Immediate condition received no interruption lag. Participants in the Warning condition prepared more than participants in the Immediate condition, as measured by verbal reports, and resumed the interrupted task more quickly. However, Immediate participants resumed faster with practice, suggesting that people adapt to particularly disruptive forms of interruption. The results support our task analysis of interruption and our model of memory for goals, and suggest further means for studying operator performance in dynamic task environments.

Notification and awareness: synchronizing task-oriented collaborative activity

Abstract: People working collaboratively must establish and maintain awareness of one another's intentions, actions and results. Notification systems typically support awareness of the presence, tasks and actions of collaborators, but they do not adequately support awareness of persistent and complex activities. We analysed awareness breakdowns in use of our Virtual School system--stemming from problems related to the collaborative situation, group, task and tool support--to motivate the concept of activity awareness. Activity awareness builds on prior conceptions of social and action awareness, but emphasizes the importance of activity context factors like planning and coordination. This work suggests design strategies for notification systems to better support collaborative activity.

The production and recognition of emotions in speech: features and algorithms

Abstract: This paper presents algorithms that allow a robot to express its emotions by modulating the intonation of its voice. They are very simple and efficiently provide life-like speech thanks to the use of concatenative speech synthesis. We describe a technique which allows to continuously control both the age of a synthetic voice and the quantity of emotions that are expressed. Also, we present the first large-scale data mining experiment about the automatic recognition of basic emotions in informal everyday short utterances. We focus on the speaker-dependent problem. We compare a large set of machine learning algorithms, ranging from neural networks, Support Vector Machines or decision trees, together with 200 features, using a large database of several thousands examples. We show that the difference of performance among learning schemes can be substantial, and that some features which were previously unexplored are of crucial importance. An optimal feature set is derived through the use of a genetic algorithm. Finally, we explain how this study can be applied to real world situations in which very few examples are available. Furthermore, we describe a game to play with a personal robot which facilitates teaching of examples of emotional utterances in a natural and rather unconstrained manner.

Recognizing emotion from dance movement: comparison of spectator recognition and automated techniques

Abstract: This paper illustrates our recent work on analysis and classification of expressive gesture in human full-body movement and in particular in dance performances. An experiment is presented which is the result of a joint work carried out at the DIST-InfoMus Lab, University of Genova, Italy, and at the Department of Psychology of the University of Uppsala, Sweden, in the framework of the EU-IST project MEGA (Multisensory Expressive Gesture Applications, www.megaproject.org). The experiment aims at (i) individuating which motion cues are mostly involved in conveying the dancer's expressive intentions to the audience during a dance performance, (ii) measuring and analyzing them in order to classify dance gestures in term of basic emotions, (iii) testing a collection of developed models and algorithms for analysis of such expressive content by comparing their performances with spectators' ratings of the same dance fragments. The paper discusses the experiment in detail with reference to related conceptual issues, developed techniques, and obtained results.

An empirical study of the effects of interactivity on web user attitude

Abstract: Despite the growing attention given to Web usability, little is understood as to what Web design features contribute to Web users' attitude, a major component of the usability of a Web site. This research investigates the effects of interactivity level on Web user's attitude towards commercial Web sites. It extends existing Web interface design and usability literature by empirically examining the critical roles of interactivity. Three Web sites with different levels of interactivity were compared in a controlled laboratory experiment. Three eighteen-person groups completed each treatment. The independent variable is the incremental levels of interactivity. The dependent variables are satisfaction, effectiveness, efficiency, value, and attitude towards the Web site. Results suggest that increased level of interactivity on a Web site have positive effects on user's perceived satisfaction, effectiveness, efficiency, value, and overall attitude towards a Web site. Implications for Web site designers and researchers are discussed.

To feel or not to feel: the role of affect in human-computer interaction

Abstract: The past decade has witnessed an unprecedented growth in user interface and human-computer interaction (HCI) technologies and methods. The synergy of technological and methodological progress on the one hand, and changing user expectations on the other, are contributing to a redefinition of the requirements for effective and desirable human-computer interaction. A key component of these emerging requirements, and of effective HCI in general, is the ability of these emerging systems to address user affect. The objective of this special issue is to provide an introduction to the emerging research area of affective HCI, some of the available methods and techniques, and representative systems and applications.

From Greta's mind to her face: modelling the dynamics of affective states in a conversational embodied agent

Abstract: This paper describes the results of a research project aimed at implementing a 'realistic' 3D Embodied Agent that can be animated in real-time and is 'believable and expressive': that is, able to coherently communicate complex information through the combination and the tight synchronisation of verbal and nonverbal signals. We describe, in particular, how we 'animate' this Agent (that we called Greta) so as to enable her to manifest the affective states that are dynamically activated and de-activated in her mind during the dialog with the user. The system is made up of three tightly interrelated components: • A representation of the Agent Mind: this includes long and short-term affective components (personality and emotions) and simulates how emotions are triggered and decay over time according to the Agent's personality and to the context, and how several emotions may overlap. Dynamic belief networks with weighting of goals is the formalism we employ to this purpose. • A mark-up language to denote the communicative meanings that may be associated with dialog moves performed by the Agent. • A translation of the Agent's tagged move into a face expression, that combines appropriately the available channels (gaze direction, eyebrow shape, head direction and movement etc). The final output is a 3-D facial model that respects the MPEG-4 standard and uses MPEG- 4 Facial Animation Parameters to produce facial expressions. Throughout the paper, we illustrate the results obtained, with an example of dialog in the domain of 'Advice about eating disorders'. The paper concludes with an analysis of advantages of our cognitive model of emotion triggering and of the problems found in testing it. Although we did not yet complete a formal evaluation of our system, we briefly describe how we plan to assess the agent's believability in terms of consistency of its communicative behaviour.

Evaluating information accessibility and community adaptivity features for sustaining virtual learning communities

Abstract: Virtual communities have been identified as the "killer applications" on the Internet Information Superhighway. Their impact is increasingly pervasive, with activities ranging from the economic and marketing to the social and educational. Despite their popularity, little is understood as to what factors contribute to the sustainability of virtual communities. This study focuses on a specific type of virtual communities--the virtual learning communities. It employs an experiment to examine the impact of two critical issues in system design--information accessibility and community adaptivity--on the sustainability of virtual learning communities. Adopting an extended Technology Acceptance Model, the experiment exposed 69 subjects to six different virtual learning communities differentiated by two levels of information accessibility and three levels of community adaptivity, solicited their feelings and perceptions, and measured their intentions to use the virtual learning communities. Results indicate that both information accessibility and community adaptivity have significant effects on user perceptions and behavioural intention. Implications for theory and practice are drawn and discussed.

A person-artefact-task (PAT) model of flow antecedents in computer-mediated environments

Abstract: Flow theory has been applied to computer-mediated environments to study positive user experiences such as increased exploratory behavior, communication, learning, positive affect, and computer use. However, a review of the existing flow studies in computer-mediated environments in Psychology, Consumer Behavior, Communications, Human-Computer Interaction, and Management Information Systems shows ambiguities in the conceptualization of flow constructs and inconsistency in the flow models. It thus raises the question of whether the direct adoption of traditional flow theory is appropriate without a careful reconceptualization to consider the uniqueness of the computer-mediated environments. This paper focuses on flow antecedents and identifies the importance of separating the task from the artefact within a computer-mediated environment. It proposes a component-based model that consists of person (P), artefact (A), and task (T), as well as the interactions of these components. The model, named the PAT model, is developed by understanding the original flow theory, reviewing existing empirical flow studies within computer-mediated environments, and analysing the characteristics of computer-mediated environments. A set of propositions is constructed to demonstrate the predictive power of the model.

Personality types in software engineering

Abstract: Software engineering is forecast to be among the fastest growing employment field in the next decades. The purpose of this investigation is two-fold: Firstly, empirical studies on the personality types of software professionals are reviewed. Secondly, this work provides an up-to-date personality profile of software engineers according to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

Designing emotionally evocative homepages: an empirical study of the quantitative relations between design factors and emotional dimensions

Abstract: Emotional aspects of homepages are becoming more important as people spend more time in cyberspace. This research aims to identify quantitative relationships between key design factors and generic dimensions of secondary emotions so that we may develop homepages which target emotions more effectively. In order to achieve this goal, we conducted three related studies. In the first study, we identified 13 generic dimensions of secondary emotions that people usually feel when viewing diverse homepages. In the second study, we identified key design factors that professional designers frequently use in their attempts to develop emotionally evocative homepages. Finally, in the third study, we identified quantitative relationships between the key design factors and the 13 emotional dimensions. This paper describes these three studies and concludes with the implications and limitations of the study results.

The effects of errors on system trust, self-confidence, and the allocation of control in route planning

Abstract: The concept of trust is believed by some to compensate for feelings of uncertainty. Therefore, trust is considered to be crucial in people's decision to rely on a complex automated system to perform tasks for them. This experiment aimed to study the effects of errors on control allocation, and the mediating role of trust and self-confidence in the domain of route planning. Using a computer-based route planner, participants completed 10 route-planning trials in manual mode, and 10 in automatic mode, allowing participants to become equally experienced in operating both modes. During these so-called fixed trials, the numbers of errors in automatic as well as manual mode were systematically varied. Subsequently, participants completed six free trials, during which they were free to choose between modes. Our results showed that high automation error rates (AERs) decreased levels of system trust compared to low AERs. Conversely, high manual error rates (MERs) resulted in lower levels of self-confidence compared to low MERs, although to a lesser extent. Moreover, the difference between measures of trust and self-confidence proved to be highly predictive of the number of times automatic mode was selected during the six free trials. Additionally, results suggest a fundamental bias to trust one's own abilities over those of the system. Finally, evidence indicating a relationship between trust and self-confidence is discussed.

Perceived usefulness, ease of use and electronic supermarket use

Abstract: Information Technology has permeated many facets of work life in industrialized nations. With the expansion of Internet access we are now witnessing an expansion of the use of information technology in the form of electronic commerce. This current study tests the applicability of one prominent information technology uptake model, the Technology Acceptance Model (Int. J. Man Mach. Stud. 38 (1993) 475), within an electronic commerce setting. Specifically, the relationship between the perceived ease of use, usefulness and three electronically recorded indicators of use were assessed within the context of an electronic supermarket. A total of 247 participants completed the attitudinal measures. Electronically recorded indicators of use in the form of deliveries, purchase value and number of log-ons to the system were also recorded for the month the participants completed the questionnaire and 6 further months. Results indicated that the Technology Acceptance Model could be successfully applied to an electronic supermarket setting, providing empirical support for the ability of the Technology Acceptance Model to predict actual behaviour. The Technology Acceptance Model explained up to 15% of the variance in the behavioural indicators through perceived ease of use and usefulness of the system. However, the perceived ease of use of the system did not uniquely contribute to the prediction of behaviour when usefulnes's was considered, indicating a mediation effect. Future research should now focus on product and service attributes to more fully explain the use of electronic commerce services.

Comparing the effects of text size and format on the readibility of computer-displayed Times New Roman and Arial text

Abstract: Times New Roman and Arial typefaces in 10- and 12-point, dot-matrix and anti-aliased format conditions were compared for readability (accuracy, reading speed, and accuracy/ reading speed), as well as perceptions of typeface legibility, sharpness, ease of reading, and general preference. In assessing readability, the 10-point anti-aliased Arial typeface was read slower than the other type conditions. Examining perceptions of typeface legibility, sharpness, and ease of reading detected significant effects for typeface, size, and format. Overall, the 12- point dot-matrix Arial typeface was preferred to the other typefaces. Recommendations for appropriate typeface combinations for computer-displayed text are discussed.

The researcher's dilemma: evaluating trust in computer-mediated communication

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to establish a methodological foundation for human-computer interaction (HCI) researchers aiming to assess trust between people interacting via computer-mediated communication (CMC) technology. The most popular experimental paradigm currently employed by HCI researchers are social dilemma games based on the Prisoner's Dilemma (PD), a technique originating from economics. HCI researchers employing this experimental paradigm currently interpret the rate of cooperation--measured in the form of collective pay-off--as the level of trust the technology allows its users to develop. We argue that this interpretation is problematic, since the game's synchronous nature models only very specific trust situations. Furthermore, experiments that are based on PD games cannot model the complexity of how trust is formed in the real world, since they neglect factors such as ability and benevolence. In conclusion, we recommend (a) means of improving social dilemma experiments by using asynchronous Trust Games, (b) collecting a broader range of data (in particular qualitative) and (c) increased use of longitudinal studies.

Physiological responses to different WEB page designs

Abstract: Physiological indicators of arousal have long been known to be sensitive to mental events such as positive and negative emotion, changes in attention and changes in workload. It has therefore been suggested that human physiology might be of use in the evaluation of software usability. To this, there are two main approaches or paradigms: (i) comparisons of physiological readings across periods of time to indicate different arousal levels under different circumstances, and (ii) the detection of short-term (occurring in seconds) physiological changes in response to specific events. Both approaches involve methodological, analytical and interpretational difficulties. Also, the tight experimental controls usually adopted in psychophysiological experimentation can be at odds with the needs of applied usability testing. This paper reports initial investigations of these approaches and difficulties in the evaluation of software interfaces. From exploratory data, a preliminary model is proposed which combines the two paradigms for identifying significant HCI events. Explorations of the model within the context of a web-related task are then discussed. These explorations suggest techniques and procedures for applied usability testing, and the results point to ways in which physiological data may be informative about software usability. However, further investigations involving variations in task and procedure are required.

Usability engineering of virtual environments (VEs): identifying multiple criteria that drive effective VE system design

Abstract: Designing usable and effective interactive virtual environment (VE) systems is a new challenge for system developers and human factors specialists In particular, traditional usability principles do not consider characteristics unique to VE systems, such as the design of wayfinding and navigational techniques, object selection and manipulation, as well as integration of visual, auditory and haptic system outputs VE designers must enhance presence, immersion, and system comfort, while minimizing sickness and deleterious after effects Through the development of a multi-criteria assessment technique, the current effort categorizes and integrates these VE attributes into a systematic approach to designing and evaluating VE usability Validation exercises suggest this technique, the Multicriteria Assessment of Usability for Virtual Environments (MAUVE) system, provides a structured approach for achieving usability in VE system design and evaluation Applications for this research include military, entertainment, and any other interactive system that seeks to provide an enjoyable and effective user experience

Effects of content representation and readers' prior knowledge on the comprehension of hypertext

Abstract: This study investigated the role of various types of content representation devices on the comprehension of an expository hypertext. We hypothesized that hierarchical representations, but not network representations, may help low prior knowledge students organize their representation of the text contents. Forty-seven students with low or high prior knowledge in Social Psychology were asked to read a hypertext using one of three content representations: a hierarchical map, a network map and an alphabetic list. Then, the participants performed a multiple choice comprehension task, a summary task and a concept map drawing task. The hierarchical map improved comprehension for the low knowledge participants at the global, but not at the local level. There was no effect of content representation on the comprehension of high prior knowledge students. We discuss the implications of these results for a theory of the comprehension processes involved in reading hypertext.

Developing multimodal intelligent affective interfaces for tele-home health care

Abstract: Accounting for a patient's emotional state is integral in medical care. Tele-health research attests to the challenge clinicians must overcome in assessing patient emotional state when modalities are limited (J. Adv. Nurs. 36(5) 668). The extra effort involved in addressing this challenge requires attention, skill, and time. Large caseloads may not afford tele-home health-care (tele-HHC) clinicians the time and focus necessary to accurately assess emotional states and trends. Unstructured interviews with experienced tele-HHC providers support the introduction of objective indicators of patients' emotional status in a useful form to enhance patient care. We discuss our contribution to addressing this challenge, which involves building user models not only of the physical characteristics of users--in our case patients--but also models of their emotions. We explain our research in progress on Affective Computing for tele-HHC applications, which includes: developing a system architecture for monitoring and responding to human multimodal affect and emotions via multimedia and empathetic avatars; mapping of physiological signals to emotions and synthesizing the patient's affective information for the health-care provider. Our results using a wireless non-invasive wearable computer to collect physiological signals and mapping these to emotional states show the feasibility of our approach, for which we lastly discuss the future research issues that we have identified.

Factors affecting the adoption and diffusion of XML and web services standards for E-business systems

Abstract: Integration is a very important issue in e-business systems integration. There are three basic mechanisms to integrate diverse applications: data interchange, application program interfaces (API), and shared repositories. Standards and standardization efforts play important roles in all three areas. XML is a standard for defining data interchange standards. Web services are a set of standards for calling remote procedures over the Internet. UDDI and other e-business registries are examples of shared repositories. This paper discusses the XML and Web Services (including UDDI) standard-related technologies in the context of e-business systems. A technology adoption life cycle model is adapted to analyse various stages of standards adoption. Organizations that tend to adopt e-business standards in each stage are identified. Based on our study of e-business standards and research of relevant literatures, several factors that affect the adoption decision of e-business standards are identified. The implications of these factors are discussed. Two case studies of the implementation of e-business standards are presented. Further studies of how standards may affect the success of e-business strategies and how companies should evaluate and implement e-business standards are proposed.