Psychology Behind the User-centered Design Approach
Understanding User Perspectives on Personalized Systems
In 2009, IBM Institute for Business Value surveyed more than 30,000 consumers to find out how personalization systems can be improved to drive the process of product and service adoption (Schaefer, 2011). Melissa Schaefer (2011), leader at the IBM Institute for Business Value, reported that IBM learned technology has indeed transformed the way consumers shop in that they are more connected, more demanding, and more vocal than they ever were. They are shopping differently in that new technologies allow them to make decisions anytime and anywhere. In fact, they prefer to shop with mobile devices because they find the experience more pleasurable and easier. The shopping process can take days or weeks for a consumer to complete breaking the flow of the traditional shopping experience. It is more challenging to understand the consumer today because they are shopping for themselves as well as others such as aging parents, creating a virtual household. More than a 25 percent of consumers surveyed only shop online for sale items and what they need no matter how well the economy is doing. They don’t want advice from retailers because they read online reviews, online recommendations, and talk with friends and family prior to making an online decision. Therefore, when they visit a site they already know what they want. Nearly half of the consumers surveyed say that they follow brands on social media, and submit comments. Interestingly, two-fifths of the consumers surveyed use social media to post comments about their online engagement with brands creating a rich source of information for business about the use’s objectives and goals. The most significant finding to this research is that consumers expect personalized experiences that are easy to use, convenient, and more importantly tailored to their needs and preferences.
Other researchers, such as Professor Thongpapanl and Ashraf from Brock University, found that general information was no longer enough to motivate consumers to take a specific action (Thongpapanl, & Ashraf, 2011). In fact, they learned that consumers presented with general information, rather than personalized information, are far less satisfied and less motivated to take action. Conversely, Thongpapanl and Ashraf found that when customers are presented with personalized information, no matter how extensive it is, they are more satisfied and more motivated to take action. Additionally, they found that interactive features such as personalized filtering and information search capabilities further strengthened the customer’s emotional connection with the experience, and helped minimize risk perception (Thongpapanl, & Ashraf, 2011).
Motivation
Motivation comes from the Latin word “movere”, which means “move, stir, agitate, affect, provoke, and disturb” (“Movere”). It is as an individual’s voluntary engagement in any given situation. Maslow Theory of Motivation posits that human needs operate on motivation at the subconscious level. Human needs are expressed into behavior that is filtered through the conscious evaluation process, influencing learning and acceptance (Seeley, 1992). The Theory of Motivation is the basis of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs created in 1943. The hierarchal list of human needs act on motivation at a subconscious level, and then are filtered through human consciousness starting with lower needs. He posit once lower needs are fulfilled than the desire to fulfill higher needs emerges (Seeley, 1992). The most basic level of human needs is biological and physiological. This is the basic need for food, water, oxygen, shelter, and sleep for survival. Once the basic needs to survive are fulfilled, then the next level of human need is the desire to feel safe from danger, and free of anxiety caused by feelings of insecurity (Seeley, 1992). When both lower levels of needs are satisfied, the need to belong and be loved takes precedence. To belong and be loved is the emotional level of social need for companionship and affiliation. Esteem is the forth level of human needs. Esteem is based on the internal desire for independence, strength, confidence, and achievement based on external factors of recognition and reputation (Seeley, 1992). The next level of human needs is Aesthetic needs. This level was added later expanding on Maslow’s list of human needs (McLeod, 2014). Aesthetics is about the beauty, balance, and form. It is what appeals to the human senses. Maslow’s highest human need is self-actualization, leading to transcendence. Self-actualization is the realization of one’s full personal potential of autonomy; it is the level of knowledge, acceptance, and peak experiences (Bradley, 2010). Maslow warns that if the lower levels of human needs are not completely fulfilled prior to the next level, than unsuitability can occur causing undo stress and anxiety which can lead to failure (Bradley, 2010).
Personalization is about the experience. It should be efficient, easy to use and enjoyable to motivate users through the hierarchical level of user needs. The user’s expectations and perception builds user trust in a system. Ease of use and desire to use are two different two concepts explored in this paper. Ease of use is about the usability of a system. Usability creates a good experience by eliminating confusion, but does not guarantee user conversion. A great experience not only focuses on usability, but it focuses on the psychology of motivation. Motivation increases the desire to do something through methods of autonomy. As mentioned earlier, autonomy is the psychological need to experience personal choice to promote self. Today’s technology has allowed users to experience autonomy through personalization that is adaptable to the users’ needs.
Maslow’s theory of motivation proposes that humans will pursue self-actualization after all their needs are met. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs creates a model for how the changing levels of user needs are built on each other to engage the human’s mind, directing action towards achievement (Seeley, 1992). To this point, it makes sense to use Maslow’s theory as the framework for the decision making processes of a personalized system. Thus, the first step to constructing a personalized experience is to understand the choice process of the user experience needs for safety, belonging, esteem, and autonomy, and the second step would be to capture the various user needs understand the users’ attributes (Seeley, 1992). The third step would be to establish a link between the system functions and user needs. Finally, the completed structure of the personalized system will act as an attribute model that fulfills the autonomy of a user, maximizing their decision-making process (Seeley, 1992).
Reference
Seeley, E. (1992). Human needs and consumer economics: The implications of Maslow's theory of motivation for consumer expenditure patterns. The Journal Of Socio-Economics, 21(4), 303-324. doi:10.1016/1053-5357(92)90002-O
Schaefer, M. (2011). Capitalizing on the smarter consumer. Retrieved from IBM Global Business Services website: http://www.crm-finder.ch/fileadmin/Daten/PDF/studien/Capitalizing_on_the_Smarter_Consumer_Executive_Report.pdf
Thongpapanl, N., & Ashraf, A. R. (2011). Enhancing online performance through website content and personalization/ Journal of Computer Information Systems, 52(1), 3-13.
