Do You Get Better User Experiences when You Customize Your Smartphone? An Experiment with Objects and Behavior-based Beliefs and Attitudes

Ying Wang, Chee-Wee Tan, Torkil Clemmensen

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    Abstract

    A system can be customized by is owner. The fundamental premise behind designing for customization is that it improves the user experience (UX) of the system. In this study, we contend that the effects of customization on UX of a smartphone can be theoretically modelled as users’ beliefs about the system object (customization) that influence their attitudes towards the system object (perceived system usability), which in turn shapes their beliefs (flow) and attitudes (engagement) towards using the system. We tested this proposition via an experimental study with 50 college students as participants. Each participant was asked to perform customization tasks on a smartphone, and then instructed to complete a comparison task aimed at contrasting customized user interface with a standard one. Our manipulation checks confirmed that the customization task, in particular, the customization of the layout was more pronounced for participants. Analytical results from the comparison reveal that customization positively influence users’ evaluation of three key constructs of UX: perceived system usability, flow and engagement, and that the feeling of engagement is mediated through perceived system usability and flow. We conclude with a discussion of the impact of customization on UX, and whether the distinction between object- and behaviour-based beliefs and attitudes is helpful.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationECIS 2016 Proceedings
    EditorsMeltem Özturan, Matti Rossi, Daniel Veit
    Number of pages14
    Place of PublicationAtlanta, GA
    PublisherAssociation for Information Systems. AIS Electronic Library (AISeL)
    Publication date2016
    Article number113
    Publication statusPublished - 2016
    Event24th European Conference on Information Systems, ECIS 2016 - Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey
    Duration: 12 Jun 201615 Jun 2016
    Conference number: 24
    http://www.ecis2016.eu/en/

    Conference

    Conference24th European Conference on Information Systems, ECIS 2016
    Number24
    LocationBoğaziçi University
    Country/TerritoryTurkey
    CityIstanbul
    Period12/06/201615/06/2016
    Internet address
    SeriesProceedings of the European Conference on Information Systems

    Keywords

    • User Experience
    • Perceived System Usability
    • Flow
    • Engagement
    • Layout Customization
    • Functional Customization
    • Smartphone

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