Over recent years, digital platforms and services have become ever more competitive. As competition has intensified, companies have found new ways to maximize profit. Deceptive patterns are design tactics in user interfaces that manipulate and deceive users, compromising user agency and privacy. Although research has focused on deceptive pattern taxonomies and end-user experiences, a gap still exists in understanding designers' perspectives on deceptive patterns. This study examined user experience and web designers' (N = 34) conceptualizations, familiarity, and reasons to implement, or not to implement, deceptive patterns. The results indicate that designers had a strong ethical commitment to avoiding deceptive patterns, although their companies generally lacked related policies. Business, design, and user-benefit reasons motivated the implementation of deceptive patterns; conversely, designers' values, possible business harms, and legal implications reduced the implementation. Our results advance current knowledge of why deceptive patterns are implemented and how designers reason through their actions from the perspective of their personal values and from an organizational perspective.
Mindsets, behavioral archetypes grounded in user beliefs and actions, are increasingly used in user-centered design (UCD) to communicate complex user behaviors. However, the lack of methodological rigor and transparency in the development of mindsets has limited their credibility and broader application. This study presents a structured six-step methodology for creating and validating mindsets from qualitative data, developed in the context of cybersecurity for micro and small businesses. Drawing from established practices and practitioner insights, this method integrates behavioral theory, thematic analysis, and evidence-based segmentation to produce distinct, actionable mindsets. Key steps include applying the MECE (Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive) principle to distill qualitative data, identifying behavioral tensions to define the quadrant axes, conducting face-validity checks, and drawing on best practices from the extant persona literature. Our resulting mindsets were evaluated through an online survey of 20 professionals who are subject matter experts (SMEs) in cybersecurity. Results indicated high perceived validity and usability, with 75-80% of participants finding the mindsets highly representative and highly likely to improve support of micro and small businesses. Feedback highlighted usability strengths alongside areas for refinement, including the importance of making targeted engagement recommendations actionable as well as some concerns about naming conventions. Our findings suggest that this methodology produces mindsets that are empirically grounded, replicable, and practically useful for engagement design. This study contributes a validated, transferable framework for mindset creation that can be applied across domains in which understanding user motivation and behavior is critical.
This study investigates the unique role of beauty in digital interface design, moving beyond the traditional focus on usability and functionality. Drawing on a mixed-methods approach, 27 university students engaged with both aesthetically rich (beautiful) and utilitarian (functional) versions of educational and commercial digital platforms. Quantitative results revealed that beautiful interfaces significantly enhance user engagement, trust, and intention to return, whereas qualitative data highlighted beauty's role in fostering motivation, emotional connection, and a sense of care. These effects were found to be robust across domains, suggesting that aesthetics play a foundational role in shaping meaningful digital experiences. By integrating philosophical, psychological, and human-computer interaction perspectives, this research addresses a critical gap: Although usability is well-studied, the societal and motivational impacts of digital beauty remain under-theorized. The author's findings advocate for a new design paradigm that positions beauty as a core value capable of driving user satisfaction, loyalty, and well-being. Practical recommendations for designers, educators, and policymakers aim to future-proof digital society through aesthetics as well as function.
Consumers are increasingly loyal to brands that are inclusive of them and their values, which promotes a sense of belonging. The goal of inclusive design is to design for the widest population possible; however, technology product inclusivity is a multifaceted concept that reflects consumer experience with a product, perceptions of trust, and ways to satisfy psychological needs. Technology products that foster a sense of belonging may promote perceptions of product quality, satisfaction, and usability. Although many measurement scales have been developed to assess consumer perceptions of technology products, no published scales exist to assess consumer perceptions of product inclusivity. The authors of this article adhered to best practices in scale development to generate an item pool based on a literature review, expert review, pilot studies, exploratory factor analysis (EFA; N = 785), and two confirmatory factor analyses (CFA; N = 677; CFA II; N = 588). We refined an initial pool of 194 items to a 25-item scale. Factor analyses indicate 5 factors contribute to the perceptions of product inclusivity: Personal Connection, Product Challenges, Confidence in Usage, Meets Expectations, and Company Empathy. The goal of developing this scale is to allow companies and product designers to measure how inclusive their technology product is, as well as to gain insight into areas of inclusivity that excel or could be improved.
Despite numerous empirical studies of practices in software development, little is known about cooperation between front-end developers and User Experience (UX) professionals. This paper provides insights into how front-end developers view UX professionals and what they expect from UX professionals. This is important for UX professionals who want to know their users to better cooperate with their stakeholders. Our study revealed insights obtained from UX professionals interviewing front-end developers. Seven teams comprising 10 experienced UX professionals participated in the study. Each team independently recruited and interviewed two or three experienced front-end developers from different organizations using a semi-structured interview format. There were 20 interviews in total. We used quotes from the front-end developers to derive four front-end developer personas that exemplify typical attitudes towards UX and UX research. Step-by-step descriptions of the development process, a Developer Journey Map, were extracted from the 20 interviews. There were striking similarities between the Developer Journey Maps. We created a general Developer Journey Map, focusing on touchpoints between front-end developers and UX professionals. Our key advice for UX professionals who want to improve cooperation with front-end developers includes the following: respect front-end developers as partners and engineers, rather than subordinates; support the front-end developer flow state by specifying, and helping them with, edge cases; and be available during implementation to answer questions quickly, and in order, to avoid interrupting their flow.
Null hypothesis significance testing (NHST), using p-values and confidence intervals, has long been the standard in user research, particularly in large-sample settings like A/B testing. However, user experience studies often rely on smaller samples, rapid iterations, and design-driven outcomes, in which p-values can be difficult to interpret, and confidence intervals may offer limited practical guidance. This paper introduces Bayesian statistics as a complementary framework better suited to these conditions. Unlike the frequentist view, which treats parameters (such as satisfaction score) as fixed but unknown quantities-meaning there is one true value in the population that doesn't change-Bayesian methods treat parameters as uncertain and represent them through probability distributions, indicating which values are plausible given the data and any prior knowledge. Bayesian methods enable direct probability statements about parameters, integration of prior knowledge, and more interpretable results that align with iterative UX practices. In this paper, we introduce key Bayesian tools, such as Bayes factors and credible intervals, as more informative alternatives to p-values and confidence intervals that make it easier to compare different models and express uncertainty in a way that is more useful for iterative design decisions. Advantages include robustness with small samples (when using appropriately informative priors), flexibility in handling hierarchical models (for example, data in which tasks are nested within users or users are nested within groups), handling missing data (by estimating values from the posterior under assumed missingness), and decision-readiness in design contexts. By reframing statistical inference around probability, evidence, and prior knowledge, Bayesian methods provide UX researchers a more transparent and practical toolkit for guiding design decisions.
Vibrotactile stimulation is becoming an increasingly integrated modality in multimedia experiences through wearable haptic devices in consumer products like smartwatches and VR controllers. Yet, their effectiveness is limited by our understanding of how users perceive vibrotactile feedback in real-world applications. Just as the advancements in haptic technology are crucial for improving fidelity, optimizing existing systems through psychophysics offers an alternative to enhance wearable implementations. In this study, we explored perceptual variables associated with vibrotactile perception on participants' dorsal forearms, a common location for wearable haptic applications. We conducted three user studies to map the forearm with varying stimulus parameters and locations; this included a pilot study to confirm the relationships between vibrotactile stimulus parameters and the subjective perceptual variables reported in a previous study. Then, we tested detection thresholds and localization accuracy at evenly spaced locations along the dorsal forearm. Our results showed that users' vibrotactile detection sensitivity decreased along the dorsal forearm, from the wrist to the elbow. Thereafter, we investigated just-noticeable differences (JNDs). JNDs did not change significantly along the users' forearms, but we found a subtle difference between the lower and upper forearm in detecting decreases versus increases in amplitude. Our study suggests that the fidelity of haptic applications can be enhanced by calibrating signals to perceptual limits to attain a higher level of perceptual resolution in wearable haptic systems.
Potential harm within digital product design has long been underexplored, despite the growing influence that consumer-facing digital products exert on individuals' daily lives. This paper presents the methodology and findings from an online survey conducted with 96 US-based UX-and product-designers working on customer-facing digital products. The survey focused on the attitudes, behaviors, challenges, and needs that designers encounter while considering harm in their daily work. Our findings resulted in several recommendations for future research to develop practice-based design solutions that enable designers to more effectively identify, discuss, and mitigate potential harm stemming from their work.
The current study examines the key theoretical mechanism that underlies warm interface aesthetics-designs that evoke feelings of friendliness and comfort-with the aim to uncover their psychological impact on user perception and behavioral intention. We conducted an online experiment that varied corner shapes across the user interface components of a billsplit mobile app (rounded versus angular; N = 187), and we identified that curvature in the app design evoked greater perceived aesthetics and warmth, which subsequently increased perceived ease of use and user satisfaction. Further, we showed that the perceived warmth, which was evoked by the rounded app design, translated a visceral impact of beauty into users' intentions to donate remaining funds to a local charity. Our findings expand the literature on communication to inform the persuasive design of digital interfaces in a way that optimizes the user experience of mobile apps for service providers and nudges users to act in the greater good.
This article provides a critical discussion of how mystery calling can support user experience research, offering insights grounded in the extant literature as well as our experience as mystery callers. The pros of mystery calling include data from (near) authentic interactions, scalability, cost efficiency, and broad applicability. The cons include medium bias, rigidity, challenges with standardization, and possible consequences when participants learn of the minor deception. Yet, the telephone is not a stable technology, and we anticipate significant impacts from artificial intelligence (AI). Broadly, we anticipate that AI will make future mystery caller studies more dependent on machine-machine interactions, with the human playing more of a supervisory and editing role. In particular, AI will automate and expand functions related to data collection, data analysis, project management, and research reporting. Given the current state of the method and its trajectory, we conclude with practical tips for UX researchers who may deploy mystery calling in their own work. We emphasize the need to weigh the ethics of mystery calling carefully.
The SUPR-Qm is a standardized questionnaire for the assessment of the UX of mobile apps. In this paper, we describe our analysis of large-sample datasets to (1) replicate the Rasch model reported in the initial publication of the SUPR-Qm in 2017, (2) identify redundant items from the original 16-item SUPR-Qm that could be removed to create a streamlined 5-item version (SUPR-Qm V2), (3) demonstrate the stability of the SUPR-Qm and SUPR-Qm V2 over two multiyear periods in which data were collected for 155 mobile apps across 23 industries, and (4) develop interpretive norms (including curved grading scales) for the SUPR-Qm and SUPR-Qm V2. This new version enhances the usefulness of the SUPR-Qm for UX practitioners and researchers who need a standardized questionnaire that provides a quick 5item measure of the UX of mobile apps. The SUPR-Qm V2 is easy to interpret with norms that should remain stable for many years.
Personas, which represent user groups with specific needs and behaviors, are crucial in user experience design. High-quality personas are based on robust user data; otherwise, they may cause more problems than they solve. Generative AI, like ChatGPT, shows potential in enhancing persona development by integrating diverse user data sources. However, its reliability is questionable due to its lack of human contextual understanding and real-life experience. This paper introduces the concept of vector personas, a method that combines AI with traditional qualitative techniques to develop user personas. Our UX team tested our approach by comparing personas created through traditional methods with those personas generated using AI. We employed a structured comparison and triangulated data from user feedback. Our study highlights the benefits and limitations of using AI in persona development. Although AI can enhance efficiency and offer new insights, it cannot replace the depth of understanding provided by real-life user-driven research. The vector persona process optimizes persona development by balancing time investment and information quality through integrating AI outputs with human insights to create comprehensive and accurate user representations.
Emotional product attachment comprises multiple dimensions, and the significance of these dimensions can change over time. Cars can evoke a wide range of emotions in their owners, particularly during an event in which an owner changes cars. This may be characterized by user sadness over the loss of the previous car and their memories associated with the car, as well as a pleasant anticipation or uncertainty regarding the upcoming car. Apps may help users to overcome such an emotional dilemma. This study investigates and reports on the impact of prototypical app variants on users' emotional perception of changing cars. The app variants were explicitly designed to address user memories and pleasure. This study employed a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative questions and quantitative measurements. The sample consisted of N = 43 participants who exhibited varying levels of emotional attachment to their cars. Our results indicate that the app variants succeeded in their intended goals. A variant focusing on memories stored users' memories of the car, leading to both facilitating and hindering the emotional handling of the car change. A variant focusing on pleasure stimulated users' anticipation for the upcoming car, proving to be the most effective strategy to support positive feelings during a car change. Notably, the perceived helpfulness of the app variants was independent of users' level of emotional attachment. This study demonstrates that digital interventions can influence emotional attachment to cars, providing new insights into the complex relationship between users and their possessions. The findings have implications for designing user experiences that aim to enhance emotional attachment and long-term use of products like cars.
"The economy stinks. Regardless of where you live in the world, you've probably been impacted by the current economic downturn. Most of us know people who have lost their jobs or even their homes. This is probably the worst downturn that most of us have experienced in our lifetimes." - Tom Tullis, February 2009
I am a faculty member in a technical communication program at a comprehensive research university. Recently, I have been inundated with questions, concerns, and critiques about the rise of augmentation technologies in writing and design processes, particularly generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools that support chat-based text generation and text-to-image production. I'm sure many UX researchers and designers face similar issues in their work. It remains unclear how generative AI should fit into existing workflow or design processes. Common questions include these: • How does AI work? What can it do? Is it free? • Is it cheating if I use AI to produce content? • Who is responsible for the quality of AI-generated content? • To what extent can I outsource my routine work to AI? In other words, what's an acceptable threshold for using AI before it is considered too much? Specific to UX is the value (cost and labor versus gains and effects) of generative AI in the research and design of user-centered products. Students in my UX courses are increasingly worried about the presence of AI and, consequently, the relevance of their developing skill sets in UX. Educators are growing wary about the presence of AI in the context of teaching and learning; many form partially informed decisions on academic policies for AI usage.
Procuring a complex IT system is a challenge for public and private organizations regardless of whether they obtain a ready-made or customized solution. Challenges include proper definitions of requirements, technical implementation, and organizational integration. Because many user groups within an organization use these complex IT systems for different tasks, usability is multifaceted. This study explored the relationship between complexity and usability while procuring IT systems. Our research consisted of two parts: We conducted a case study at a Finnish public organization, including interviews with seven IT professionals with extensive experience in the procurement and implementation of complex IT systems. In a scoping review, we identified 106 articles, of which 28 met the inclusion criteria and were included in our review. The articles, sourced from five databases, were peer-reviewed and published from January 2000 to April 2023. We found that complexity is considered an influencing factor in procurement, but usability is not addressed broadly during procurement, although complexity is perceived as affecting usability. There is a lack of appropriate methods for evaluating usability while procuring complex IT systems. This gap stems from varying priorities in usability evaluation. Procurement prioritizes lightweight assessment and comparability, whereas evaluation of complex systems requires a comprehensive methodology and a broad perspective. Based on our findings, we propose that complexity needs to be evaluated within the context of usability during the procurement of complex IT systems by considering the three aspects of complexity: task, system, and context.
Surveys are a widely used method for evaluating a product's participants to express their perceptions of various aspects of aesthetics, or joy of use. One common item format is a statement to which participants can indicate their level of agreement or disagreement on a scale. Another frequently used format is semantic differentials: Participants indicate which of two terms along a semantic dimension is closer to their perception of the corresponding UX quality. However, participants' responses to these items are non-deterministic. Non-determinism can occur for several reasons. Participants may be uncertain about the best answer or might randomly choose among reasonable alternatives. Or situational factors might lead them to unintentionally select the wrong answer option without realizing it. Even if a person's opinion about the UX quality of a product remains unchanged, their answers could vary between two evaluations using the exact same items. In our study, we investigate the magnitude of these effects and discuss their impact on the interpretation of UX survey results. Our study reveals significant response instability in UX ratings. Fortunately, this doesn't affect the overall item or scale scores, as deviations are random and have a symmetrical, neutralizing impact on scale means with a large enough sample. However, this instability does increase the standard deviation, affecting its interpretation.
Trauma -informed design and technology have been an important topic of discussion in the last 5 years in user experience. However, little exists to offer practical direction for practitioners applying trauma -informed approaches to websites, apps, and other digital tools. This paper shares an example of applying trauma -informed (TI) principles to a social service agency website in the United States using wellknown usability heuristics, which are principles used in interaction design to ensure usability. There appears to be a significant overlap between usability heuristics and TI principles; practitioners can use usability heuristics as a familiar foundation to make any design more traumainformed. This paper describes specific ways TI principles can be operationalized using usability heuristics to develop more user-friendly and trauma -informed websites. A case study in design shows how user experience professionals can be more trauma -informed in their work to better serve the general public or users who have experienced trauma.
Augmented Reality (AR) is established in a wide range of fields, but a specific area of application is AR content on social media. Because AR content can be a business offering, new opportunities are arising to present products and services to users of social media. AR filters or lenses may be published by companies either as advertising or as generic content on their social media profiles. Our study tested the generic branded AR lenses on the platform SnapchatTM for user experience. We conducted a user test with 27 Snapchat users using 3 different generic branded AR lenses. We recorded participants' experiences using the User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ) and individual short interviews. The latter included questions about personal preferences and the perceived augmentation quality, as augmentation quality has been proven important to the UX of AR. Our analysis of the data shows that AR lenses can achieve a good result in the UEQ scale Novelty and that the Attractiveness is above average. However, the results also indicate that the generic branded AR lenses need improvement in aspects related to usability. Additional interview questions revealed that the augmentation quality of generic branded AR lenses has not always been perceived positively, yet the UX of these lenses should be important to businesses that want to invest in this technology. Poorly implemented AR applications can compromise users' experience and, consequently, negatively impact a company and its brand.
