General Characteristics of Anticipated User Experience (AUX) with Interactive Products

Abstract

Providing a positive user experience (UX) has become the key for products to win a competition in mature markets. However, the early stages of product development have not been fully supported by current UX evaluation methods. We conducted a qualitative study investigating anticipated user experience (AUX) to address this issue. Twenty pairs of participants were asked to imagine an interactive product and anticipate their interactions and experiences with it. The data was analyzed to identify general characteristics of AUX. We found that while positive AUX was related to an imagined product overall, negative AUX was mainly associated with existing products. Furthermore, the hedonic quality of product received more focus in positive than negative AUX. The results also showed that context, user profile, experiential knowledge, and anticipated emotion could be reflected in AUX. The understanding of AUX will help designers to ensure pleasurable UX from the start of the design process.