Pilot Study

This study looked at how page layout and design, navigation techniques, security and privacy and perceived usefulness influences the user experience of e-commerce Website users.

Research Instrument

The method used by the study entails performing a preliminary classification of usability factors such as color, navigation technique and functionality for a number of South African e-commerce Websites. A Web portal then acts as a launching pad for users to access these sites. Upon exit from the site, users are asked to complete a short evaluation to determine the subjective user experience of the Website they accessed. This method holds the advantage that the user's experience is measured immediately after using the site.

Problem Areas

It is difficult to define the norm for the user experience and how it relates to other factors. The user interface, machine factors, cultural factors, individual factors and usability factors are likely to influence the experience. Many user characteristics such as age, experience and gender can also influence the interaction with the Website.

A number of instruments such as the Questionnaire for User Interface Satisfaction (QUIS) and the Webqual questionnaire are available for the determination of user satisfaction. The length of these instruments makes them unsuitable for high volume data collection and a shorter questionnaire will have to be designed for the study.

The chosen method of data collection employs non-probabilistic sampling and self-selection; therefore, it may not be representative of the general population of e-commerce users.