Designing For User Engagement

This book explores the design process for user experience and engagement, which expands the traditional concept of usability and utility in design to include aesthetics, fun and excitement. User experience has evolved as a new area of Human Computer Interaction research, motivated by non-work oriented applications such as games, education and emerging interactive Web 2.0. The chapter starts by examining the phenomena of user engagement and experience and setting them in the perspective of cognitive psychology, in particular motivation, emotion and mood. The perspective of aesthetics is expanded towards interaction and engagement to propose design treatments, metaphors, and interactive techniques which can promote user interest, excitement and satisfying experiences. This is followed by reviewing the design process and design treatments which can promote aesthetic perception and engaging interaction. The final part of the chapter provides design guidelines and principles drawn from the interaction and graphical design literature which are cross-referenced to issues in the design process. Examples of designs and design treatments are given to illustrate principles and advice, accompanied by critical reflection. Table of Contents: Introduction / Psychology of User Engagement / UE Design Process / Design Principles and Guidelines / Perspectives and Conclusions

Interactive media designers have been discussing modes to optimize interaction design beyond mere usability. With the arrival of Emotional Design followed by the success of the User Experience (UX) approaches, the discussion continued and augmented. Experience has become a complex buzzword, which is more about the subject’s experience than the product, and this is why it's difficult, or even impossible, to define it in a concise manner. We propose to move the discussion from Experience towards Engagement, to emphasize the design of the relationship between artefacts, contexts and users. Engagement asks for a more concrete type of experience, with specific needs, motives, skills and competences, which can be more clearly worked into the design of artefacts. Engagement also differs from other concepts e.g. fun, enjoyment, happiness or well-being and is open enough to grant freedom to designers in creating their personal world views. To push this new approach, we offer in this book a full model for the design of engagement in interactive media, still believing it can be applied beyond that. The model is arranged around what we call the three engagement streams: Progression, Expression and Relation.

User Engagement (UE) is a complex concept to investigate. The purpose of this book is not to constrain UE to one perspective, but to offer a well-rounded appreciation for UE across various domains and disciplines. The text begins with two foundational chapters that describe theoretical and methodological approaches to user engagement; the remaining contributions examine UE from different disciplinary perspectives and across a range of computer-mediated environments, including social and communications media, online search, eLearning, games, and eHealth. The book concludes by bringing together the cross-disciplinary perspectives presented in each chapter and proposing an agenda for future research in this area. The book will appeal to established and emerging academic and industry researchers looking to pursue research and its challenges. This includes scholars at all levels with an interest in user engagement with digital media, from students to experienced researchers, and professionals in the fields of computer science, web technology, information science, museum studies, learning and health sciences, human-computer interaction, information architecture and design, and creative arts.

Designing for User Engagement on the Web: 10 Basic Principles is concerned with making user experience engaging. The cascade of social web applications we are now familiar with — blogs, consumer reviews, wikis, and social networking — are all engaging experiences. But engagement is an increasingly common goal in business and productivity environments as well. This book provides a foundation for all those seeking to design engaging user experiences rich in communication and interaction. Combining a handbook on basic principles with case studies, it provides readers with a rich understanding of engagement: extending a welcome, setting the context, making a connection, sharing control, supporting interaction, creating a sense of place, and planning to continue the engagement. Based on research funded by the Society for Technical Communication, the case studies illustrate how designers build community in order to support education, connect kids to community resources, introduce users to other cultures, foster collaboration, encourage activism, and much more. Whatever your motive, if you aim to create engaging user experiences, you will want to explore Designing for User Engagement on the Web.

Why attractive things work better and other crucial insights into human-centered design Emotions are inseparable from how we humans think, choose, and act. In Emotional Design, cognitive scientist Don Norman shows how the principles of human psychology apply to the invention and design of new technologies and products. In The Design of Everyday Things, Norman made the definitive case for human-centered design, showing that good design demanded that the user's must take precedence over a designer's aesthetic if anything, from light switches to airplanes, was going to work as the user needed. In this book, he takes his thinking several steps farther, showing that successful design must incorporate not just what users need, but must address our minds by attending to our visceral reactions, to our behavioral choices, and to the stories we want the things in our lives to tell others about ourselves. Good human-centered design isn't just about making effective tools that are straightforward to use; it's about making affective tools that mesh well with our emotions and help us express our identities and support our social lives. From roller coasters to robots, sports cars to smart phones, attractive things work better. Whether designer or consumer, user or inventor, this book is the definitive guide to making Norman's insights work for you.

There are increasing calls for social science researchers to work more closely with research users. References to engaging users in and with research are now common in research funding requirements, national research strategies and large-scale research programmes. User engagement has therefore become part of the rhetoric of educational and social science research. But what is user engagement, how can it be achieved and what challenges and opportunities does it present for researchers and research users? The authors of this new book present an authoritative overview of recent theoretical debates, practical developments and empirical evidence on the role of user engagement in contemporary educational and social science research. The book focuses on the relationship between user engagement and research design, and emphasises how user engagement needs to be understood as an interplay between the different kinds of knowledge and expertise held by researchers and users. Drawing on evidence from studies involving different kinds of research users, there is detailed discussion of the dynamics and complexities of working with practitioners, service users and policy-makers. The authors make clear that user engagement has definite implications for the way in which research is designed, managed and commissioned, and the way in which researchers and research users are trained, supported and encouraged to interact. Written for the many professionals involved in funding, doing and using research within education and other social sciences, this book provides: conceptual guidance on different approaches and interpretations of user engagement examples and evidence of effective strategies for engaging practitioners, service users and policy-makers capacity building ideas and implications for researchers and research users specific suggestions as to how the conceptualization, management, scaling up and evidence base of user engagement could be improved. At the core of this forward-thinking text is a robust analysis of an important facet of modern social science research. The authors’ evidence-based, evaluative approach provides a useful, detailed analysis of an area of social science research methodology which is increasingly valued and emphasised by research councils and mediators.

Discover the art and science of designing intuitive and engaging interfaces with 'Human-Computer Interaction: Designing Engaging Interfaces for User Experience.' This comprehensive guide explores the principles, methodologies, and best practices of HCI, equipping designers, developers, and researchers with essential knowledge to create user-centered digital experiences. From understanding cognitive principles and conducting user research to prototyping, usability testing, and designing for accessibility, each chapter offers practical insights and real-world examples. Whether you're designing websites, mobile apps, or immersive VR experiences, this book is your definitive companion to crafting interfaces that delight users and elevate user experience across diverse platforms and technologies.

User engagement refers to the quality of the user experience that emphasizes the positive aspects of interacting with an online application and, in particular, the desire to use that application longer and repeatedly. User engagement is a key concept in the design of online applications (whether for desktop, tablet or mobile), motivated by the observation that successful applications are not just used, but are engaged with. Users invest time, attention, and emotion in their use of technology, and seek to satisfy pragmatic and hedonic needs. Measurement is critical for evaluating whether online applications are able to successfully engage users, and may inform the design of and use of applications. User engagement is a multifaceted, complex phenomenon; this gives rise to a number of potential measurement approaches. Common ways to evaluate user engagement include using self-report measures, e.g., questionnaires; observational methods, e.g. facial expression analysis, speech analysis; neuro-physiological signal processing methods, e.g., respiratory and cardiovascular accelerations and decelerations, muscle spasms; and web analytics, e.g., number of site visits, click depth. These methods represent various trade-offs in terms of the setting (laboratory versus ``in the wild''), object of measurement (user behaviour, affect or cognition) and scale of data collected. For instance, small-scale user studies are deep and rich, but limited in terms of generalizability, whereas large-scale web analytic studies are powerful but negate users' motivation and context. The focus of this book is how user engagement is currently being measured and various considerations for its measurement. Our goal is to leave readers with an appreciation of the various ways in which to measure user engagement, and their associated strengths and weaknesses. We emphasize the multifaceted nature of user engagement and the unique contextual constraints that come to bear upon attempts to measure engagement in different settings, and across different user groups and web domains. At the same time, this book advocates for the development of ``good'' measures and good measurement practices that will advance the study of user engagement and improve our understanding of this construct, which has become so vital in our wired world.