Evaluation of Anticipated User Experience

Abstract

User experience encompasses all the effects that the use of a product has on users - before, during and after use. But what do future users expect from a product? There are various evaluation and measurement methods to examine actual user experience. However, only a few methods allow to explore the expectations of future users before they use a product. We describe a standardized method to explore user expectations, that is supported by a web tool for efficient data collection. The method is based on a list of positive UX properties that can be configured by a researcher. Participants in a study can indicate for each property whether they expect it from the product or not. The result can be visualized via a word cloud. The same properties can be used to rate actual user experience in a classical questionnaire format. Thus, the method allows to compare user expectations with the actual user experience and helps to generate a shared understanding about the important UX properties for a product. Finally, the method was tested in a concrete evaluation project.