Aleck C. H. Lin

Understanding web enjoyment experiences and informal learning: A study in a museum context

There is a significant and growing trend to provide informational learning material online by organizations including businesses, government and cultural institutions. Yet, the concept of enjoyable online learning experiences - specifically when learning is not part of a formal instructional undertaking - has not been well studied, and thus it is not well understood. To redress the gap in the literature, this article reports on a major exploratory study that analyzed the learning and enjoyment experiences of a large number of informal learners in a museum context. The paper shows how designing for an enjoyment experience has unique characteristics that distinguish it from traditional website design and calls for more research with focus on human emotions and reactions. The article also identifies a set of characteristics which would encourage enjoyable online learning experiences for the general public and suggests a number of conceptual guidelines for developing an online learning website for enjoyment.

Understanding the nature of online emotional experiences: a study of enjoyment as a web experience

Have you ever felt frustrated, annoyed or even enraged when interacting online with one service provider, but thoroughly enjoyed your experiences with another? Do you find some websites not only easier to use, but more enjoyable too? Online service providers now need to think beyond basic concepts of functionality and ease-of-use and consider the emotional experiences that their services engender. This paper indicates a new fundamental direction for research that links online service design with emotional experiences. It is necessary to connect information systems (IS) research with psychology, philosophy, and even physiology and neuroscience to take advantage of the rapid advances in these fields. One positive online emotional experience, namely enjoyment, was selected as the research theme. Three studies with seven websites were conducted. The research is significant as it shows how assessment of a complex emotion can deepen understanding of online service provision and go beyond attention to functional needs. Subsequent innovations in services have high potential benefit in terms of productivity gains, increased exports and more satisfied clients in the community.

Biophilia and biophobia in website design: Improving internet information dissemination

Abstract The Internet is increasingly a source of information for populations around the world, and thus theorizing that website design, which leads to enhanced recall of web-based information, has important theoretical and practical implications. On the basis of evolutionary psychology, biophilia and biophobia theories show how humans developed emotional responses to aspects of their natural environments so as to enhance survival by triggering approach or avoidance behaviors. Enhanced memory for biophobic elements such as predators and biophilic elements such as food would be further fitness enhancing. This study aimed to show how website design based on biophilia and biophobia theories can elicit emotions and improve recall of web-based information. An experiment was performed with simulated national park websites that contained images designed to elicit emotional responses. The emotional responses (e.g., valence and arousal) were associated with increased recall of information presented on the websites. The study contributes by showing that biophilia theory and biophobic theory can guide website design research and improve information recall.