Soussan Djamasbi

Does positive affect influence the effective usage of a Decision Support System

This study examines the impact of positive mood on the effective usage of a Decision Support System (DSS). Using current cognitive theories, a theoretical argument about DSS usage is developed. This argument is then investigated via a lab experiment. The results of the lab experiment show that decision makers in positive mood used a greater number of informational cues provided by the DSS and made more accurate judgments.

Do men and women use feedback provided by their Decision Support Systems (DSS) differently

This study investigates the effect gender has on the use of computer-based feedback and the impact that this feedback has on mood. The decision making process of men and women are investigated via a laboratory experiment using a previously validated Decision Support System (DSS) and a commonly used and negatively framed feedback. Grounded in human-computer interaction theories highlighting the strong social component of computers and social feedback theories showing that men and women react to negative feedback differently, we argue that the commonly used outcome feedback in DSS studies will influence both the decision accuracy of male and female users and their moods differently. The results, which support our basic theoretical argument, indicate that outcome feedback (in particular the more negative outcome feedback) improved the decision accuracy of the female users compared to their male counterparts. The results also indicate that the outcome feedback affect the overall mood of men and women differently as well. The overall moods of the female subjects were significantly less positive before and after completing the task (receiving this commonly used negative form of feedback), the moods of the male subjects before and after completing the task (receiving the same negative feedback) did not change. These results not only extend prior DSS feedback studies but also highlight the need and provide support for examining gender differences in such investigations.

Efficiency, Trust, and Visual Appeal: Usability Testing through Eye Tracking

Creating a positive user experience is a fundamental element of producing a successful web page. Three important components of user experience are visual appeal, trust, and efficiency. This study extends past research by examining the effect of images of faces on the visual appeal, efficiency, and trustworthiness of a page. Data is collected using both subjective ratings and objective measurements, including eye tracking. Analysis indicates that users find a page that has images of peoples faces more appealing than a page that has no images of faces and perform tasks more quickly when there are faces present. Additionally, analysis reveals a strong positive correlation between trusting the informational content of a page and its visual appeal. This research has important implications for theory and practical applications.

The effect of positive mood on intention to use computerized decision aids

While psychology research has indicated that positive mood enhances cognition and behavior, MIS researchers have largely ignored such potential effects on user acceptance of new IT. Using two cognitive theories on mood and memory, positive mood theory and the affect infusion model (AIM), we developed hypotheses about the contribution of these mood conditions on user acceptance of new IT with two levels of uncertainty. These hypotheses were investigated via an experiment using a computerized decision making aid. We found that positive mood increased acceptance, under both levels of uncertainty. These results held for both induced and naturally occurring positive mood. The results were consistent with positive mood theory but not with the AIM.

Designing for Success: Creating Business Value with Mobile User Experience (UX)

The popularity of mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets, provides both new opportunities and challenges for companies. Mobile devices allow companies to reach users anywhere, anytime; however, these devices present the challenge of designing websites that can adapt to smaller screen sizes. Because competition is shifting more and more toward user experience, creating a positive mobile experience is becoming increasingly important in maintaining a competitive edge in the market place. To address this issue, we measured the user experience of an actual e-commerce website before and after it was optimized for mobile devices and used Google Analytics to follow user behavior. The results suggested that optimized websites are likely to have a major positive impact on the ROI for a company.

Do ads matter? An exploration of web search behavior, visual hierarchy, and search engine results pages

Users tend to ignore advertisements when viewing a web page, however, when searching for a specific product or service, advertisements can be very useful. This exploratory study examines the impact of online advertisements within search results. The findings provide support for the competition for attention theory in that users are looking at advertisements and entries when evaluation SERPs. We also examine web page search behavior and how it can affect user experience. The results show that eye tracking data is valuable for designers, marketers, and usability experts to develop and evaluate web page design.

Corporate website accessibility: does legislation matter?

Over 600 million people worldwide have disabilities ranging from visual and hearing impairments to cognitive and motor skill issues. This number is only growing as “Baby Boomers” age. Previous research reveals that those organizations, such as federal agencies and colleges, which are mandated to have accessible websites, do indeed have higher levels of accessible websites than corporate sites do. This led to the current research, which aims at understanding what factors truly impact a company’s decision to provide an accessible website. The results of a global survey of managers from a variety of industries uncovered that the key factors for influencing a company’s level of website accessibility are the number of IT professionals employed by the firm, the level of accessibility testing performed, and whether the company is mandated to have an accessible website.

Factors that affect visually impaired users' acceptance of audio and music websites

The number of users with visual impairments is on the rise. Companies have an opportunity to increase their reach and revenue by ensuring their websites are accessible to these users. Developing websites around the needs of those with visual impairments is especially critical as the affluent Baby Boomer generation ages and is faced with a multitude of vision problems. Despite this fast growing, web-reliant population, little work has been done to develop a behavioral model that addresses its needs. Grounded in accessibility and acceptance theories, this research proposes a model that predicts Web usage behavior of blind and low-vision users. Our results show that one of the most widely used acceptance models does not predict the adoption behavior of visually impaired users as effectively as a modified model that includes information accessibility. Those with visual impairments decide to revisit a website based, in part, on its accessibility as well as its ease of use and usefulness. These results suggest that traditional acceptance models may predict the behavior of users with visual impairments better when reliability and convenience of access to Information are also considered.

SERPs and ads on mobile devices: an eye tracking study for generation y

We use eye tracking data to analyze the search behavior of Generation Y users when searching for information using a mobile phone. Following previous studies, we use Google as an example of list-based SERPs to explore the impact of advertisements in search results and their impact on attention before the users first action on the page. Results provide evidence that the presence of advertisements and location on the screen can have an impact on user experience and search.

Information systems and task demand: An exploratory pupillometry study of computerized decision making

Abstract Information systems (IS) play an important role in successful execution of organizational decisions, and the ensuing tasks that rely on those decisions. Because decision making models show that cognitive load has a significant impact on how people use information systems, objective measurement of cognitive load becomes both relevant and important in IS research. In this paper, we manipulate task demand during a decision making task in four different ways. We then investigate how increasing task demand affects a users pupil data during interaction with a computerized decision aid. Our results suggest that pupillometry has the potential to serve as a reliable, objective, continuous and unobtrusive measure of task demand and that the adaptive decision making theory may serve as a suitable framework for studying user pupillary responses in the IS domain.