Susy S. Chan

Moderating Effects of Task Type on Wireless Technology Acceptance

The technology acceptance model (TAM) is one of the most widely used models of information technology (IT) adoption. According to TAM, IT adoption is influenced by two perceptions: usefulness and ease of use. In this study, we extend TAM to the mobile commerce context. We categorize the tasks performed on wireless handheld devices into three categories: (1) general tasks that do not involve transactions and gaming, (2) gaming tasks, and (3) transactional tasks. We propose a unified conceptual model for wireless technology adoption. In this model, task type moderates the effects of four possible determinants: perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived playfulness, and perceived security. We postulate that, under the mobile context, user intention to perform general tasks that do not involve transactions and gaming is influenced by perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, user intention to play games is affected by perceived playfulness, and user intention to transact is influenced by perceived usefulness and perceived security. A survey was conducted to collect data about user perception of 12 tasks that could be performed on wireless handheld devices and user intention to use wireless technology. Multiple regression analyses supported the proposed research model.

Development of an Instrument for Studying Flow in Computer Game Play

Flow theory (Csikszentmihalyi, 1993; Csikszentmihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi, 1990; Csikszentmihalyi & LeFevre, 1989) has been widely adopted in research on computer games (e.g., Fu, Su, & Yu, 2009; Sherry, 2004; Sweetser & Wyeth, 2005). According to this theory, flow leads to enjoyment, a central construct in computer games. However, no such instrument, adopting a rigorous process to measure all flow elements in the field of computer games, has been developed and validated to date. An effective measurement of flow experiences during computer game play is essential to study how a flow state can be induced. It will assist game designers in understanding the strength and flaw of the game from a players perspective. This article reports on the development of an instrument measuring all flow elements in computer game play, based on the flow theory, and following a rigorous method introduced by Moore and Benbasat (1991). The results show that the validity and reliability of the instrument are satisfactory. This instrument will help information systems researchers further investigate how to apply flow theory in computer games to improve enjoyment and thus game design.

A Study of the Feasibility and Effectiveness of Dual-Modal Information Presentations

Multimodal interfaces with both visual and auditory output are becoming important, especially for applications using small-screen displays and for user access under mobile conditions. The research presented here investigated the feasibility of simultaneously presenting distinct textual information through both visual and auditory channels by examining two multimodal interfaces with irrelevant or relevant auditory information. These interfaces were intended to study two problems: (a) Can users attend to and process additional information delivered through the auditory channel during a typical Web-browsing process, and (b) what are the effects of information overlap between the visual and auditory channels? Controlled experiments were conducted to evaluate these two questions. The findings suggest that users can attend to auditory information while visually browsing textual information and that information overlap may reduce distraction. These findings have implications for the design of multimodal interfaces for small-screen mobile applications.

Building a dictionary of game-descriptive words to study playability

This work-in-progress paper reports the development of a dictionary of game-descriptive words. Inspired by the lexical approach [1] used by psychologists to study personality traits, it is proposed that the same approach can be used in computer game research. The premise is that if computer games display some common traits, players ought to use natural language to describe them. By studying the language used by game players, we can explore the common traits of computer games which may reveal playability problems and information about game classification. As the first step to use the lexical approach, this study attempts to build a dictionary of game-descriptive words for future lexical analyses. The detailed development process was discussed.