Studying user experience with digital audio players

Abstract

Several attempts have been made to broaden the traditional focus on the efficient achievement of goals and incorporate a fuller understanding of additional aspects of the user experience. These approaches are especially interesting for the area of entertainment computing, where the efficient completion of tasks is not the main focus. The presented research project investigates the role of non-instrumental aspects as hedonics and aesthetics and their interplay with emotions in shaping the user experience. After introducing an integrative model, a first application of the approach in a study of user experience with digital audio players is described. The findings show that this approach offers a wealth of insights that can be used to improve product design from a user perspective. © IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2006.