Website Interactivity and Website Usability

From Information Systems at Pitt Business

e-Commerce websites generally aspire to increase usability so as to increase its commercial success. However, there is no empirical evidence or theoretical model linking this commonly held belief adopted by practitioners. Building upon previously validated theoretical models, this paper examines how interactive features (e.g., search engines, menu bars, and internal links) are able to increase the perceived satisfaction that the user feels with the website. This model is tested in two domains (University bookstores, and e-card websites) and the general connection between interactivity and satisfaction is supported.

[edit] Abstract

Usability is a key component of websites that are commercially successful. Interactivity has been inconclusively linked to website usability. This study strengthens the theoretical understanding of how interactivity affects usability by measuring user satisfaction — a subconstruct of usability — across bookstore and e-card websites. We build on theoretical models from Liu and Shrum and Khalifa and Liu. Users were asked to perform tasks of varying levels of interactivity at bookstore and e-card websites. Measures were obtained for the user’s expectations of, desires for, and satisfaction with the websites. Results indicate that interactivity is successfully able to increase website satisfaction. Finally, implications for practitioners, limitations of the study, and directions for future research are addressed.

[edit] Paper Information

Authors: Paul Benjamin Lowry, Trent Spaulding, Taylor Michael Wells, Greg Moody, Kevin Moffitt, Sebastian Madariaga

Check out the paper at its SSRN webpage A Theoretical Model and Empirical Results Linking Website Interactivity and Usability Satisfaction

Presented at HICSS 2006

Keywords: Interactivity, Interaction, Usability, Websites, Satisfaction, HCI, Desires, Expectations