| Chapter 1: | Introduction and Underlying Assumptions |
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The major trend in corporate Web site design is the focus on user experience. This research project adopts the same point of view, and articulates an experience-oriented theoretical perspective that underlies the study. This approach is described next.
The Web Site Experience
The terms “Web site experience” and “user experience” have recently emerged at the forefront of Web design and programming literature. Providing a positive user experience is the major guiding principle in Web site design (Berry, 2000; Hurst & Gellady, 1999; IBM, 2003a; Nielsen, 1997; Nielsen & Norman, 2000; Shedroff, 2001). Despite this focus on building a positive user experience on Web sites, the literature lacks a rigorous definition of the concept itself. Paul (2000) defined Web site experience loosely as the user’s overall satisfaction with the site. This definition is problematic because it does not address the experience itself, only a set of attitudes and opinions related to the Web site visit. In lieu of a definition, some authors mention characteristics of the Web user experience and factors that contribute to positive experiences: quick, easy, and predictable operation of the site, good navigation, secure transactions, ease of learning, efficiency of use, memorability, fresh content, personalization, and so forth (Hurst & Gellady; Nielsen; Nielsen & Norman; Paul). The literature suggests that the subjective experience of Web users is largely dependent upon characteristics of the Web site, and that the user experience can be improved by careful design (Shedroff, 2001), but fails to provide a conceptually clear or comprehensive definition of the Web site experience, or an explanation of how Web site characteristics interact to create it.