Affinity for Technology Interaction

In research and development in general, and in user-centered design (UCD) in particular, study participants have to be representative for the target audience. However, given the voluntary participation in user studies and an ensuing self-selection bias, participants of user studies likely prefer to engage with technology more strongly than the target audience in general (i.e., they have a higher affinity for technology interaction, ATI). Unchecked, this potential bias might lead to products that neglect important user groups or miss valuable market niches. At the same time, participants' time is limited, so assessment of ATI must be economical. Thus, we propose an ultra-short ATI scale derived from the ATI scale by [10]. ATI-S was developed using theoretical considerations and empirical analyses. It provides a sufficiently reliable and valid assessment of ATI for conditions with strict time-constraints, in which the full ATI scale cannot be used.

Rapid technological advancements and growing digitalization increasingly affect our everyday life, leading to a greater need to successfully cope with digital technology. While domain-specific system knowledge is needed, inter-individually differing personality traits also constitute an important personal resource that can facilitate technology interaction. We propose "affinity for technology" interaction (ATI) as a key variable to predict successful technology interaction, defined as the stable tendency to actively engage in technology interaction. The 9-item ATI scale is based on the established need for cognition (NFC) construct and was tested in a series of empirical studies (N > 1500). Empirical results from heterogeneous samples supported the value of the scale as unidimensional and economical assessment tool, with good to excellent internal consistency. Moreover, correlation analyses to examine construct validity showed expected moderate to high correlations to NFC, geekism, technology enthusiasm, self-reported technical problem solving and technical system learning success, and technical system usage. Also as expected, correlations to the Big Five personality dimensions were weak at the most. As a first step to investigate the scale’s criterion validity, we tested its relationship to performance measures indicative for actual technology interaction success. Thus, N = 60 university students participated in an online study and actively interacted with four different websites to complete search tasks. We present first results regarding the connection between ATI and task performance and, additionally, usability evaluations.

Die zunehmende Digitalisierung der Arbeitswelt bietet nicht nur vielversprechende Innovationen zur arbeiterzentrierten, adaptiven Aufgabengestaltung, sondern stellt den Einzelnen auch vor die Herausforderung, in höherem Maße mit digitaler Technik zu interagieren. Für die erfolgreiche Interaktion mit Technik sind zwei Faktoren ausschlaggebend: Wissen über bzw. Erfahrung mit technischen Systemen sowie Persönlichkeitsaspekte, die sich als Interaktionsstil im Umgang mit Technik manifestieren. Wir präsentieren das Konzept der interaktionsbezogenen Technikaffinität (affinity for technology interaction, ATI) als zentrale Ressource zum erfolgreichen Umgang mit Technik, und mit der ATI-Skala eine ökonomische und reliable Skala zur Quantifizierung der ATI eines Nutzers. Neben bestehenden Evaluationsergebnissen (N > 1500) stellen wir erste Ergebnisse einer Nutzerstudie vor, die im Rahmen des Projektes Factory2Fit durchgeführt wurde. Die Probanden interagierten mit 3D-Druckern und erlebten unterschiedliche Automatisierungsgrade des Prozesses. Zusätzlich zum Automatisierungsgrad wurde die Erfahrung der Probanden durch unterschiedliche Trainingsintensitäten variiert. Die Ergebnisse liefern erste Hinweise auf die Relevanz von ATI für die Vorhersage des Interaktionserfolgs mit Technologie und damit für Usability-Evaluationen in Industrie 4.0-Umgebungen.

Presentation held at the Innteract Conference 2018 in Chemnitz, Germany. The ATI Scale was introduced and first results on a user study in cooperation with the project Factory2Fit were presented.

Successful coping with technology is relevant for mastering daily life. Based on related conceptions, we propose affinity for technology interaction (ATI), defined as the tendency to actively engage in intensive technology interaction, as a key personal resource for coping with technology. We present the 9-item ATI scale, an economical unidimensional scale that assesses ATI as an interaction style rooted in the construct need for cognition (NFC). Results of multiple studies (n > 1500) showed that the scale achieves good to excellent reliability, exhibits expected moderate to high correlations with geekism, technology enthusiasm, NFC, self-reported success in technical problem-solving and technical system learning success, and also with usage of technical systems. Further, correlations of ATI with the Big Five personality dimensions were weak at most. Based on the results, the ATI scale appears to be a promising tool for research applications such as the characterization of user diversity in system usability tests and the construction of general models of user-technology interaction.

Successful coping with technology is relevant for mastering daily life. Based on related conceptions, we propose affinity for technology interaction (ATI), defined as the tendency to actively engage in intensive technology interaction, as a key personal resource for coping with technology. We present the 9-­item ATI scale, an economical unidimensional scale that assesses ATI as an interaction style rooted in the construct need for cognition (NFC). Results of multiple studies (N > 1500) showed that the scale achieves good to excellent reliability, exhibits expected moderate to high correlations with geekism, technology enthusiasm, NFC, self-­-reported success in technical problem solving and technical system learning success, and also with usage of technical systems. Further, correlations of ATI with the Big Five personality dimensions were weak at most. Based on the results, the ATI scale appears to be a promising tool for research applications such as the characterization of user diversity in system usability tests and the construction of general models of user-technology interaction.

The Affinity for Technology Interaction Scale (ATI) was presented, including first empirical results regarding scale reliability and validity (N ≈ 1400).

For a comprehensive understanding of user diversity, a reliable and valid assessment of stable user characteristics is essential. In the field of human-technology interaction, a plethora of personality-related constructs linked to the experience of and interaction with technical systems has been discussed. A key question for researchers in the field is thus: Which are the key personality concepts and scales for characterizing inter-individual differences in user technology interaction? Based on a literature review and citation analysis, a structured overview of frequently used technology-related personality constructs and corresponding self-report scales is provided. Changes in the popularity and content of scales and concepts that occured over time as well as overlap between constructs and scales are discussed to facilitate scale selection.

Poster presenting our review regarding personality scales used in HCI research as well as a newly developed scale to assess affinity for technology interaction (ATI).