Identifying Essential and Optional Decision Constructs in On-line Transactional Processes

Abstract

Decision-making for users during an on-line transactional process has become fragmentary and ‘start-stop’. Much of this discontinuance arises from decisions points that users or consumers are presented with. Recent studies into Web development and user interface design practices amongst some airlines concluded that many optional extras are not presented as opt-in decisions, and are therefore in breach of European Union regulation. Furthermore, some airlines are using ‘imaginative’, sometimes unusual, decision constructs such as a ‘must-opt’. This has been the source of the research question in this paper - what are the nature and types of decision constructs that users encounter throughout on-line transactional processes? The findings presented herein make an incremental contribution in identifying and categorizing some new decision constructs alongside established ones.