Showing papers in "International Journal of Human-computer Studies \/ International Journal of Man-machine Studies in 2019"

A Taxonomy of Social Cues for Conversational Agents

Abstract: Conversational agents (CAs) are software-based systems designed to interact with humans using natural language and have attracted considerable research interest in recent years. Following the Computers Are Social Actors paradigm, many studies have shown that humans react socially to CAs when they display social cues such as small talk, gender, age, gestures, or facial expressions. However, research on social cues for CAs is scattered across different fields, often using their specific terminology, which makes it challenging to identify, classify, and accumulate existing knowledge. To address this problem, we conducted a systematic literature review to identify an initial set of social cues of CAs from existing research. Building on classifications from interpersonal communication theory, we developed a taxonomy that classifies the identified social cues into four major categories (i.e., verbal, visual, auditory, invisible) and ten subcategories. Subsequently, we evaluated the mapping between the identified social cues and the categories using a card sorting approach in order to verify that the taxonomy is natural, simple, and parsimonious. Finally, we demonstrate the usefulness of the taxonomy by classifying a broader and more generic set of social cues of CAs from existing research and practice. Our main contribution is a comprehensive taxonomy of social cues for CAs. For researchers, the taxonomy helps to systematically classify research about social cues into one of the taxonomy's categories and corresponding subcategories. Therefore, it builds a bridge between different research fields and provides a starting point for interdisciplinary research and knowledge accumulation. For practitioners, the taxonomy provides a systematic overview of relevant categories of social cues in order to identify, implement, and test their effects in the design of a CA.

Do smartphone usage scales predict behavior

Abstract: Understanding how people use technology remains important, particularly when measuring the impact this might have on individuals and society. However, despite a growing body of resources that can quantify smartphone use, research within psychology and social science overwhelmingly relies on self-reported assessments. These have yet to convincingly demonstrate an ability to predict objective behavior. Here, and for the first time, we compare a variety of smartphone use and ‘addiction’ scales with objective behaviors derived from Apple's Screen Time application. While correlations between psychometric scales and objective behavior are generally poor, single estimates and measures that attempt to frame technology use as habitual rather than ‘addictive’ correlate more favorably with subsequent behavior. We conclude that existing self-report instruments are unlikely to be sensitive enough to accurately predict basic technology use related behaviors. As a result, conclusions regarding the psychological impact of technology are unreliable when relying solely on these measures to quantify typical usage.

Strengthening gamification studies: Current trends and future opportunities of gamification research

Abstract: Gamification is now a well-established technique in Human-Computer Interaction. However, research on gamification still faces a variety of empirical and theoretical challenges. Firstly, studies of gamified systems typically focus narrowly on understanding individuals. short-term interactions with the system, ignoring more difficult to measure outcomes. Secondly, academic research on gamification has been slow to improve the techniques through which gamified applications are designed. Third, current gamification research lacks a critical lens capable of exploring unintended consequences of designs. The 14 articles published in this special issue face these challenges with great methodological rigor. We summarize them by identifying three main themes: the determination to improve the quality and usefulness of theory in the field of gamification, the improvements in design practice, and the adoption of a critical gaze to uncover side-effects of gamification designs. We conclude by providing an overview of the questions that we feel must be addressed by future work in gamification. Gamification studies would benefit from a wider use of theories to account for the complexity of human behavior, a more thorough exploration of the many opportunities coming from the world of games, and an ethical reflection on the use of game design elements in serious domains.

Revisiting collaboration through mixed reality: The evolution of groupware

Abstract: Collaborative Mixed Reality (MR) systems are at a critical point in time as they are soon to become more commonplace. However, MR technology has only recently matured to the point where researchers can focus deeply on the nuances of supporting collaboration, rather than needing to focus on creating the enabling technology. In parallel, but largely independently, the field of Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) has focused on the fundamental concerns that underlie human communication and collaboration over the past 30-plus years. Since MR research is now on the brink of moving into the real world, we reflect on three decades of collaborative MR research and try to reconcile it with existing theory from CSCW, to help position MR researchers to pursue fruitful directions for their work. To do this, we review the history of collaborative MR systems, investigating how the common taxonomies and frameworks in CSCW and MR research can be applied to existing work on collaborative MR systems, exploring where they have fallen behind, and look for new ways to describe current trends. Through identifying emergent trends, we suggest future directions for MR, and also find where CSCW researchers can explore new theory that more fully represents the future of working, playing and being with others.

Systematic literature review of hand gestures used in human computer interaction interfaces

Abstract: Gestures, widely accepted as a humans’ natural mode of interaction with their surroundings, have been considered for use in human-computer based interfaces since the early 1980s. They have been explored and implemented, with a range of success and maturity levels, in a variety of fields, facilitated by a multitude of technologies. Underpinning gesture theory however focuses on gestures performed simultaneously with speech, and majority of gesture based interfaces are supported by other modes of interaction. This article reports the results of a systematic review undertaken to identify characteristics of touchless/in-air hand gestures used in interaction interfaces. 148 articles were reviewed reporting on gesture-based interaction interfaces, identified through searching engineering and science databases (Engineering Village, Pro Quest, Science Direct, Scopus and Web of Science). The goal of the review was to map the field of gesture-based interfaces, investigate the patterns in gesture use, and identify common combinations of gestures for different combinations of applications and technologies. From the review, the community seems disparate with little evidence of building upon prior work and a fundamental framework of gesture-based interaction is not evident. However, the findings can help inform future developments and provide valuable information about the benefits and drawbacks of different approaches. It was further found that the nature and appropriateness of gestures used was not a primary factor in gesture elicitation when designing gesture based systems, and that ease of technology implementation often took precedence.

Using protection motivation theory in the design of nudges to improve online security behavior

Abstract: We conducted an online experiment (n = 2024) on a representative sample of internet users in Germany, Sweden, Poland, Spain and the UK to explore the effect of notifications on security behaviour. Inspired by protection motivation theory (PMT), a coping message advised participants on how to minimize their exposure to risk and a threat appeal highlighted the potential negative consequences of not doing so. Both increased secure behavior – but the coping message significantly more so. The coping message was also as effective as both messages combined, but not so the threat appeal. Risk attitudes, age and country had a significant effect on behavior. Initiatives seeking to promote secure behavior should focus more on coping messages, either alone or in combination with fear appeals.

Cooperation or Competition – When do people contribute more? A field experiment on gamification of crowdsourcing

Abstract: Information technology is being increasingly employed to harness under-utilized resources via more effective coordination. This progress has manifested in different developments, for instance, crowdsourcing (e.g. Wikipedia, Amazon Mechanical Turk, and Waze), crowdfunding (e.g. Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and RocketHub) or the sharing economy (e.g. Uber, Airbnb, and Didi Chuxing). Since the sustainability of these IT-enabled forms of resource coordination do not commonly rely merely on direct economic benefits of the participants, but also on other non-monetary, intrinsic gratifications, such systems are increasingly gamified that is, designers use features of games to induce enjoyment and general autotelicy of the activity. However, a key problem in gamification design has been whether it is better to use competition-based or cooperation-based designs. We examine this question through a field experiment in a gamified crowdsourcing system, employing three versions of gamification: competitive, cooperative, and inter-team competitive gamification. We study these gamified conditions’ effects on users’ perceived enjoyment and usefulness of the system as well as on their behaviors (system usage, crowdsourcing participation, engagement with the gamification feature, and willingness to recommend the crowdsourcing application). The results reveal that inter-team competitions are most likely to lead to higher enjoyment and crowdsourcing participation, as well as to a higher willingness to recommending a system. Further, the findings indicate that designers should consider cooperative instead of competitive approaches to increase users’ willingness to recommend crowdsourcing systems. These insights add relevant findings to the ongoing discourse on the roles of different types of competitions in gamification designs and suggest that crowdsourcing system designers and operators should implement gamification with competing teams instead of typically used competitions between individuals.

History and future of human-automation interaction

Abstract: We review the history of human-automation interaction research, assess its current status and identify future directions. We start by reviewing articles that were published on this topic in the International Journal of Human-Computer Studies during the last 50 years. We find that over the years, automated systems have been used more frequently (1) in time-sensitive or safety-critical settings, (2) in embodied and situated systems, and (3) by non-professional users. Looking to the future, there is a need for human-automation interaction research to focus on (1) issues of function and task allocation between humans and machines, (2) issues of trust, incorrect use, and confusion, (3) the balance between focus, divided attention and attention management, (4) the need for interdisciplinary approaches to cover breadth and depth, (5) regulation and explainability, (6) ethical and social dilemmas, (7) allowing a human and humane experience, and (8) radically different human-automation interaction.

Empirical validation of the Gamification User Types Hexad scale in English and Spanish

Abstract: Gamification, the use of game elements in non-game systems, is now established as a relevant research field in human-computer interaction (HCI). Several empirical studies have shown that gameful interventions can increase engagement and generate desired behavioral outcomes in HCI applications. However, some inconclusive results indicate that we need a fuller understanding of the mechanisms and effects of gamification. The Gamification User Types Hexad scale allows us to parse different user motivations in participants’ interactions with gameful applications, which are measured using a self-report questionnaire. Each user type represents a style of interaction with gameful applications, for example, if the interactions are more focused on achievements, socialization, or rewards. Thus, by scoring an individual in each one of the user types of the Hexad model, we can establish a profile of user preferences for gameful interactions. However, we still lack a substantial empirical validation of this scale. Therefore, we set out to validate the factor structure of the scale, in both English and Spanish, by conducting three studies, which also investigated the distribution of the Hexad's user types in the sample. Our findings support the structural validity of the scale, as well as suggesting opportunities for improvement. Furthermore, we demonstrate that some user types are more common than others and that gender and age correlate with a person's user types. Our work contributes to HCI research by further validating the utility of the Gamification User Types Hexad scale, potentially affording researchers a deeper understanding of the mechanisms and effects of gameful interventions.

Human augmentation : Past, present and future

Abstract: Human augmentation is a field of research that aims to enhance human abilities through medicine or technology. This has historically been achieved by consuming chemical substances that improve a selected ability or by installing implants which require medical operations. Both of these methods of augmentation can be invasive. Augmented abilities have also been achieved with external tools, such as eyeglasses, binoculars, microscopes or highly sensitive microphones. Lately, augmented reality and multimodal interaction technologies have enabled non-invasive ways to augment human. In this article, we first discuss the field and related terms. We provide relevant definitions based on the present understanding of the field. This is followed by a summary of existing work in augmented senses, action, and cognition. Our contribution to the future includes a model for wearable augmentation. In addition, we present a call for research to realize this vision. Then, we discuss future human abilities. Wearable technologies may act as mediators for human augmentation, in the same manner as eyeglasses once revolutionized human vision. Non-invasive and easy-to-use wearable extensions will enable lengthening the active life for aging citizens or supporting the full inclusion of people with special needs in society, but there are also potential problems. Therefore, we conclude by discussing ethical and societal issues: privacy, social manipulation, autonomy and side effects, accessibility, safety and balance, and unpredictable future.

Unravelling the ambivalent motivational power of gamification: A basic psychological needs perspective

Abstract: Previous research on the interaction with game design elements in an educational setting has presented both desirable and undesirable outcomes but misses out on a theoretical and empirical explanation of the underlying psychological processes at work when interacting with gamified systems. This article aims at gaining an in-depth understanding of the power of gamification as shaping motivation based on the principles of basic psychological need satisfaction derived from Self-Determination Theory. This study is based on the qualitative analysis of 125 surveys (n = 40) and 2 focus group interviews (n = 7) gained throughout a 15-week university master course in which students voluntary interacted with a gamified platform. The results show the ambivalent motivational power of game elements in technology-supported learning environments—affording feelings of autonomy, competence and relatedness in some cases, thwarting them in others—with situational factors playing an important role in this process. These findings aid in understanding the workings of gamification and might help in explaining the mixed results about the effectiveness of gamification reported in previous literature. Conclusions and avenues for future research are reported.

HCI for health and wellbeing: Challenges and opportunities

Abstract: In terms of Human–Computer Interaction, healthcare presents paradoxes: on the one hand, there is substantial investment in innovative health technologies, particularly around “big data” analytics and personal health technologies; on the other hand, most interactive health technologies that are currently deployed at scale are difficult to use and few innovative technologies have achieved significant market penetration. We live in a time of change, with a shift from care being delivered by professionals towards people being expected to be actively engaged and involved in shared decision making. Technically, this shift is supported by novel health technologies and information resources; culturally, the pace of change varies across contexts. In this paper, I present a “space” of interactive health technologies, users and uses, and interdependencies between them. Based on a review of the past and present, I highlight opportunities for and challenges to the application of HCI methods in the design and deployment of digital health technologies. These include threats to privacy, patient trust and experience, and opportunities to deliver healthcare and empower people to manage their health and wellbeing in ways that better fit their lives and values.

Keeping the driver in the loop: Dynamic feedback to support appropriate use of imperfect vehicle control automation

Abstract: Objective This study evaluates the benefits and costs associated with providing drivers continuous feedback on the limits and behavior of imperfect vehicle control automation. Background In-vehicle automated systems remove drivers from active vehicle control, often at the expense of timely interventions when failures occur. Discrete warnings, as a type of feedback to inform drivers about automated system behavior, fail to keep drivers aware of its proximity to operating limits. Method In a fixed-based simulator, 48 drivers drove using Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC)—a form of control automation that maintains a set speed, or a set headway if the vehicle encounters a slower moving vehicle. A first experiment compared ACC with discrete warnings to ACC with continuous information, which indicated moment-to-moment ACC state relative to its operating limits. Three display conditions, designed to provide non-obtrusive, ecologically-valid information, were evaluated in a second experiment: 1) a visual interface; 2) an auditory interface; and 3) a combined visual-auditory interface. Results Drivers provided with continuous feedback relied more appropriately on ACC than did those with discrete warnings. Continuous feedback increased the frequency of proactive responses to automation failures and improved system understanding. Of the three displays, the combined visual-auditory interface performed the best. Conclusion Continuous feedback helped communicate to drivers the evolving relationship between system performance and operating limits. Application Displays for increasingly automated vehicles should inform about the automation's situation-specific behavior rather than simply alert drivers to failures and/or the need to resume vehicle control in order to promote appropriate understanding and trust.

Defining gameful experience as a psychological state caused by gameplay: Replacing the term ‘Gamefulness’ with three distinct constructs

Abstract: Background and Aim Gamefulness is commonly cited as the primary goal of gamification, a family of approaches employed in education, business, healthcare, government, and elsewhere However, gamefulness is defined imprecisely across the literature To address this, we present a theory of gamefulness that splits gamefulness into more specific constructs and outlines their effects in a process model Method We integrate extant literature from psychology, human-computer interaction, and other fields to define gameful design, systems, and experiences Most critically, we argue that gameful experience is the core focal construct of this theory and define it as an interactive state occurring when a person perceives non-trivial achievable goals created externally, is motivated to pursue them under an arbitrary set of behavioral rules, and evaluates that motivation as voluntary Results We present six resulting propositions: (1) gameful systems lead to gameful experiences, (2) gameful systems impact psychological characteristics, (3) effective gameful design leads to gameful systems, (4) effective gameful systems lead to behavioral change, (5) appropriate behavioral change causes the distal outcomes gamification designers target, and (6) individual differences moderate the effectiveness of gameful systems Conclusion Gameful experience theory provides researchers with a unified foundation to study gamification from any social scientific lens

Linked open data-based explanations for transparent recommender systems

Abstract: In this article we propose a framework that generates natural language explanations supporting the suggestions generated by a recommendation algorithm. The cornerstone of our approach is the usage of Linked Open Data (LOD) for explanation aims. Indeed, the descriptive properties freely available in the LOD cloud (e.g., the author of a book or the director of a movie) can be used to build a graph that connects the recommendations the user received to the items she previously liked via the properties extracted from the LOD cloud. In a nutshell, our approach is based on the insight that properties describing the items the user previously liked as well as the suggestions she received can be effectively used to explain the recommendations. Such a framework is both algorithm-independent and domain-independent, thus it can generate a natural language explanation for every kind of recommendation algorithm, and it can be used to explain a single recommendation (Top-1 scenario) as well as a group of recommendations (Top-N scenario). It is worth noting that the algorithm-independent characteristic does not mean that the framework is able to explain to the user how the recommendations have been generated and how the recommendation algorithm works. The framework explains to users why they might like the recommended items, independently from the recommendation algorithm that generated the recommendations. In the experimental evaluation, we carried out a user study (N = 680) aiming to investigate the effectiveness of our framework in three different domains, as movies, books and music. Results showed that our technique leads to transparent explanations for all the domains, and such explanations resulted independent of the specific recommendation algorithm in most of the experimental settings. Moreover, we also showed the goodness of our strategy when an entire group of recommendations has to be explained. As a case study, we integrated the framework in a real-world application, a conversational recommender system implemented as a Telegram Bot. The idea is to use the explanation for supporting both the training phase (when the user expresses her preferences) and the recommendation step (when the user receives the recommendations). Interesting outcomes emerge from these preliminary experiments.

Moodplay: Interactive music recommendation based on Artists’ mood similarity

Abstract: A large amount of research in recommender systems focuses on algorithmic accuracy and optimization of ranking metrics. However, recent work has unveiled the importance of other aspects of the recommendation process, including explanation, transparency, control and user experience in general. Building on these aspects, this paper introduces MoodPlay, an interactive music-artists recommender system which integrates content and mood-based filtering in a novel interface. We show how MoodPlay allows the user to explore a music collection by musical mood dimensions, building upon GEMS, a music-specific model of affect, rather than the traditional Circumplex model. We describe system architecture, algorithms, interface and interactions followed by use-case and offline evaluations of the system, providing evidence of the benefits of our model based on similarities between the typical moods found in an artist’s music, for contextual music recommendation. Finally, we present results of a user study (N = 279) in which four versions of the interface are evaluated with varying degrees of visualization and interaction. Results show that our proposed visualization of items and mood information improves user acceptance and understanding of both the underlying data and the recommendations. Furthermore, our analysis reveals the role of mood in music recommendation, considering both artists’ mood and users’ self-reported mood in the user study. Our results and discussion highlight the impact of visual and interactive features in music recommendation, as well as associated human-cognitive limitations. This research also aims to inform the design of future interactive recommendation systems.

The users’ perspective on the privacy-utility trade-offs in health recommender systems

Abstract: Privacy is a major good for users of personalized services such as recommender systems. When applied to the field of health informatics, privacy concerns of users may be amplified, but the possible utility of such services is also high. Despite availability of technologies such as k-anonymity, differential privacy, privacy-aware recommendation, and personalized privacy trade-offs, little research has been conducted on the users’ willingness to share health data for usage in such systems. In two conjoint-decision studies (sample size n = 521 ), we investigate importance and utility of privacy-preserving techniques related to sharing of personal health data for k-anonymity and differential privacy. Users were asked to pick a preferred sharing scenario depending on the recipient of the data, the benefit of sharing data, the type of data, and the parameterized privacy. Users disagreed with sharing data for commercial purposes regarding mental illnesses and with high de-anonymization risks but showed little concern when data is used for scientific purposes and is related to physical illnesses. Suggestions for health recommender system development are derived from the findings.

I track, therefore I walk – Exploring the motivational costs of wearing activity trackers in actual users

Abstract: Personal quantification is one fundamental mechanism of gamification. Activity trackers constitute a prototypic case for studying the psychological dynamics of this mechanism. Despite their high potential to increase physical activity, health and well-being, the effects of trackers on users’ motivation to be physically active have yet rarely been explored. The present research examines the notion that quantified feedback of gamified systems can create a dependency that can harm motivation, which becomes apparent through activity reduction when the tracker is not available. To generalize findings from experimental studies to a naturalistic setting, we examined motivational effects of activity trackers in 210 actual users through a scenario- and questionnaire-based survey. Moreover, facets of user diversity (i.e., need for cognitive closure, affinity for technology interaction, achievement motivation, and the Big Five personality traits) were taken into account. Results indicated that a decrease of motivation for physical activity in situations when the tracker is not available plays a role in everyday usage. This dependency effect was stronger for participants with high extrinsic motivation for physical activity and tracker usage, high need for cognitive closure, and low hope of success. In contrast, high intrinsic motivation for physical activity was related to a less strong dependency effect.

Moving from a ‘human-as-problem” to a ‘human-as-solution” cybersecurity mindset

Abstract: Cybersecurity has gained prominence, with a number of widely publicised security incidents, hacking attacks and data breaches reaching the news over the last few years. The escalation in the numbers of cyber incidents shows no sign of abating, and it seems appropriate to take a look at the way cybersecurity is conceptualised and to consider whether there is a need for a mindset change. To consider this question, we applied a “problematization” approach to assess current conceptualisations of the cybersecurity problem by government, industry and hackers. Our analysis revealed that individual human actors, in a variety of roles, are generally considered to be “a problem”. We also discovered that deployed solutions primarily focus on preventing adverse events by building resistance: i.e. implementing new security layers and policies that control humans and constrain their problematic behaviours. In essence, this treats all humans in the system as if they might well be malicious actors, and the solutions are designed to prevent their ill-advised behaviours. Given the continuing incidences of data breaches and successful hacks, it seems wise to rethink the status quo approach, which we refer to as “Cybersecurity, Currently”. In particular, we suggest that there is a need to reconsider the core assumptions and characterisations of the well-intentioned human’s role in the cybersecurity socio-technical system. Treating everyone as a problem does not seem to work, given the current cyber security landscape. Benefiting from research in other fields, we propose a new mindset i.e. “Cybersecurity, Differently”. This approach rests on recognition of the fact that the problem is actually the high complexity, interconnectedness and emergent qualities of socio-technical systems. The “differently” mindset acknowledges the well-intentioned human’s ability to be an important contributor to organisational cybersecurity, as well as their potential to be “part of the solution” rather than “the problem”. In essence, this new approach initially treats all humans in the system as if they are well-intentioned. The focus is on enhancing factors that contribute to positive outcomes and resilience. We conclude by proposing a set of key principles and, with the help of a prototypical fictional organisation, consider how this mindset could enhance and improve cybersecurity across the socio-technical system.

Measuring the impact of online personalisation: Past, present and future

Abstract: Research on understanding, developing and assessing personalisation systems is spread over multiple disciplines and builds on methodologies and findings from several different research fields and traditions, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Human–Computer Interaction (HCI), and User Modelling based on (applied) social and cognitive psychology. The fields of AI and ML primarily focus on the optimisation of personalisation applications, and concentrate on creating ever more accurate algorithmic decision makers and prediction models. In the fields of HCI and Information Systems, scholars are primarily interested in the phenomena around the use and interaction with personalisation systems, while Cognitive Science (partly) delivers the theoretical underpinnings for the observed effects. The aim and contribution of this work is to put together the pieces about the impact of personalisation and recommendation systems from these different backgrounds in order to formulate a research agenda and provide a perspective on future developments.

Locomotion in Virtual Reality for Room Scale Tracked Areas

Abstract: Virtual reality (VR) is becoming a more popular and available technology, with the new generation systems and more content specifically developed for this medium. One of the crucial components of VR applications is locomotion, which is used for moving the viewpoint of user in virtual environments. Locomotion in VR is expected to have a direct effect on user experience in terms of effort, enjoyment, frustration, motion sickness and presence. To date, many locomotion techniques for VR have been studied. However, these techniques were primarily evaluated in large tracked areas (larger than 16 ft by 16 ft). On the contrary, emerging consumer VR systems typically track within smaller room scales. In this study, eight VR locomotion techniques were investigated in a room-scale tracked area (8 ft by 8 ft). These eight locomotion techniques are: redirected walking, walk-in-place, stepper machine, point & teleport, joystick, trackball, hand flapping and flying. A user study was performed with 15 participants. Results indicated that point & teleport, joystick and redirected walking were suitable VR locomotion techniques for room scale tracked areas whereas hand flapping and flying were not suitable.

Interrupted by my car? : Implications of interruption and interleaving research for automated vehicles

Abstract: As vehicles of the future take on more of the driving responsibility and the role of the driver transitions into more of a monitoring capacity, the traditional notions of interruption and attention management needs to be reconsidered for automated vehicles. We argue that the transfer of control between the automated vehicle and the human driver can be considered as an interruption handling process, and that this process goes through a series of ten explicit stages. Each stage has its own characteristics and implications for practice and future research. Therefore, in this paper we identify for each stage what is known from theory, together with important implications for safety, design, and future research, especially for human-machine interaction. More generally, the framework makes explicit that it is not appropriate to think of transfer of control as a single event or even small set of events. The framework also highlights that it might not be realistic to expect human drivers to immediately respond correctly to a system initiated request to transfer control, given that humans interleave their attention between non-driving and driving tasks, and given that a transition constitutes of multiple stages. These nuances are accounted for in the framework.

Effect of Experience Sampling Schedules on Response Rate and Recall Accuracy of Objective Self-Reports

Abstract: The Experience Sampling Method is widely used to collect human labelled data in the wild. Using this methodology, study participants repeatedly answer a set of questions, constructing a rich overview of the studied phenomena. One of the methodological decisions faced by researchers is deciding on the question scheduling. The literature defines three distinct schedule types: randomised, interval-based, or event-based (in our case, smartphone unlock). However, little evidence exists regarding the side-effects of these schedules on response rate and recall accuracy, and how they may bias study findings. We evaluate the effect of these three contingency configurations in a 3-week within-subjects study (N = 20). Participants answered various objective questions regarding their phone usage, while we simultaneously establish a ground-truth through smartphone instrumentation. We find that scheduling questions on phone unlock yields a higher response rate and accuracy. Our study provides empirical evidence for the effects of notification scheduling on participant responses, and informs researchers who conduct experience sampling studies on smartphones.

User perception of Bitcoin usability and security across novice users

Abstract: This paper investigates users’ perceptions and experiences of an anonymous digital payment system (Bitcoin) and its influence on users in terms of usability and security in comparison to other non-anonymous payment systems such as credit/debit cards. This paper identifies users’ perceptual differences in terms of usability and security. Two versions of user survey are used to collect data, which reveal significant differences in users’ perceptions of credit/debit cards and Bitcoin. The usability attributes of both systems examined show that respondents perceive the usability of credit/debit cards to be higher than Bitcoin. This has a great negative influence on users’ security perceptions of Bitcoin. We conclude that Bitcoin, as a crypto-currency, is still in its infancy and requires user education and a new way of thinking. The study recommends developing users’ mental models to deepen developers’ understanding of anonymous digital payment technology and improve user-centred design. We also make recommendations with respect to e-government services that may be developed relying on crypto-currencies.

Virtual reality in the application of heart rate variability biofeedback

Abstract: Heart rate variability biofeedback (HRV-BF) is an established technique for reducing stress and regaining balance of the autonomic nervous system. The present study explored (1) the feasibility and (2) the potential advantages of using a virtual reality (VR) nature environment as an immersive way of providing HRV-BF. A randomized controlled experiment was conducted, comparing (1) a single session of HRV-BF in a VR-based implementation (treated group) with (2) a traditional implementation (treated control group) and (3) a non-treated control group. Both the VR-based and the traditional version of HRV-BF are equally effective in increasing short-term HRV. However, the VR-based implementation was associated with higher motivation and helped users better maintain attentional focus. Future research needs to further clarify the underlying mechanism and address possible long-term effects.

Proactive vs. reactive personalization: Can customization of privacy enhance user experience?

Abstract: Online recommender systems have triggered widespread privacy concerns due to their reliance on personal user data for providing personalized services. To address these concerns, some systems have started allowing users to express their preferences before receiving personalized content (i.e., reactive personalization) rather than automatically pushing it to them (i.e., proactive personalization). However, this would mean constant calls for user action, which can adversely affect user experience. One potential solution is to offer users the ability to customize their privacy settings at the outset, thus obviating the need for constant consultation. We conducted a 2 (Personalization: Reactive vs. Proactive) X 3 (Customization of Settings: Absence vs. Action vs. Cue) factorial experiment (N = 299) with a movie recommendation system. Findings show that interface cues suggesting customization enhance user experience, even in the presence of proactive personalization. They also highlight the important role played by negative privacy experiences in the past.

Counterproductive effects of gamification: An analysis on the example of the gamified task manager Habitica

Abstract: The concept of gamification has evoked increasing attention in HCI research and practice. Gamification uses game elements in serious, non-game contexts in order to motivate a particular target behavior or attitude change (e.g., sustainable behavior, physical activity, task management). While gamification has been attributed a high potential, a critical question is whether it actually induces the intended effect. The present research explores ``counterproductive effects of gamification'', i.e., cases when a gamification element does not encourage the intended behavior but rather the opposite (e.g., procrastination instead of getting things done). Studying the example of the gamified task manager Habitica, our paper reports insights from two consecutive studies. Study 1, a qualitative interview study based on interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) with one single user revealed seven themes describing distinct counterproductive effects in Habitica, and additional seven themes related to Habitica's reward/punishment system and psychological reactions to counterproductive effects. Study 2 further explored these findings in a quantitative field study with 45 users over a two-week usage period, also studying correlations to user experience, product evaluation, motivation to play Habitica and individual belief in gamification. All participants experienced counterproductive effects to some degree, whereby some effects (e.g., being punished by Habitica in especially productive times, since one does not manage to check off tasks in time) were more prevalent than others (e.g., relabeling tasks as positive habits with no due date to prevent the risk of punishments). The prevalence of counterproductive effects was correlated to the users' perceived inappropriateness of the reward system, and a crucial predictor for motivation change over time. Relations to psychological mechanisms, general implications for gamification design and future research directions are discussed.

Predicting susceptibility to social influence in phishing emails

Abstract: To reduce the threat caused by phishing attacks, it is vital to investigate why some phishing attacks are successful, and why some people are more susceptible to them than others. To examine this, we used a social influence framework, and applied the Susceptibility to Persuasion Strategies scale within a dual-process model of persuasion framework. A total of 985 participants took part in a role-play scenario-based phishing study. Results indicated that phishing emails utilising scarcity and social proof principles were least successful, whereas those applying consistency and reciprocity principles were most successful. The same principles were also considered least and most persuasive according to the Susceptibility to Persuasion Strategies scale. For the majority of principles, participants who were susceptible to a specific principle were significantly more susceptible to emails containing that principle. Further results revealed that age; the percentage of time spent using a computer; susceptibility to the social proof principle; and, both dispositional and situational impulsivity, were significant predictors in people's ability to detect phishing emails. Practical implications of these findings as well as future directions are discussed.

Supporting end-user debugging of trigger-action rules for IoT applications

Abstract: End users need tools to enable them to control and personalise Internet of Things (IoT) applications, which may involve hundreds of interconnected objects. Trigger-action programming has shown to be a useful support for this purpose because it allows users to easily associate dynamic events with the activation of desired effects. End User Development (EUD) tools aim to allow even users without programming experience to define the behaviour of IoT applications. However, users may define rules triggering various actions that may be in conflict, or may specify rules that do not result in the intended behaviour. Although such situations can often occur, there seems to be a lack of tools able to help users understand whether the specified rules actually bring about the desired behaviour and, if not, the reasons why they fail. We present an original solution for filling this gap, which takes into account the specific aspects of trigger-action rules. We describe the design and implementation of this debugging support, and then discuss the results of a first user test.

The effects of 3D sound in a 360-degree live concert video on social presence, parasocial interaction, enjoyment, and intent of financial supportive action

Abstract: What would be the social consequences of rendering three-dimensional (3D) sound in a pre-recorded live concert video? Although previous studies demonstrate that the rendering of 3D sound in a pre-recorded live concert may foster a sense of presence, whether and how 3D sound will affect audience's experiences beyond the reporting of a sense of presence has yet to be elucidated. To further investigate the socio-psychological impact of 3D sound in a pre-recorded live concert content, a 2 × 2 mixed design experiment (N = 44), having sound as a within factor (2D vs. 3D) and visualization display mode as a between factor (monoscopic TV vs. stereoscopic VR), was conducted. Drawing from the social presence theory and related work, we specifically investigated whether 3D sound in a pre-recorded live concert content, rendered either through a monoscopic TV screen or a stereoscopic VR device, will contribute to enhancing audience's sense of being with a performer (i.e., social presence), and whether this will subsequently influence audience's psychological engagement with the performer (i.e., parasocial interaction), enjoyment as need satisfaction, and intent of financial supportive action towards the performer. Results showed that 3D sound enhanced a sense of social presence, and this, in turn, positively influenced parasocial interaction and enjoyment. In addition, parasocial interaction, fostered by social presence, positively affected audience's intent of financial supportive action. Further implications of the findings with respect to the role of 3D sound in a pre-recorded live concert content, rendered through a VR technology, are discussed.