Description
The research question guiding this study is whether the absence of visible interaction cues in minimalist wearable devices affects the user experience. This question is answered theoretically with an affordance framework and empirically with a qualitative analysis of online user reviews about a specific fitness tracker wristband. Our theoretically-driven affordance-based analysis attributes usability challenges to affordance integration failures and contradictions. Minimalist devices with inconspicuous interfaces need compensating affordances to make them easy to use. Additionally, given the integration of affordances in the context of the user experience, there is a need for consistency among them. Integration failures and inconsistent affordances impair usability. Overall, the findings suggest that a minimalist design results in a more complex user experience if affordances are not properly balanced and integrated. These results have implications for researchers and practitioners seeking to understand what makes modern IoT devices transparent to use at the physical and digital level.
Recommended Citation
Benbunan-Fich, Raquel, "Usability of Wearables without Affordances" (2017). AMCIS 2017 Proceedings. 2.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2017/AdvancesIS/Presentations/2
Usability of Wearables without Affordances
The research question guiding this study is whether the absence of visible interaction cues in minimalist wearable devices affects the user experience. This question is answered theoretically with an affordance framework and empirically with a qualitative analysis of online user reviews about a specific fitness tracker wristband. Our theoretically-driven affordance-based analysis attributes usability challenges to affordance integration failures and contradictions. Minimalist devices with inconspicuous interfaces need compensating affordances to make them easy to use. Additionally, given the integration of affordances in the context of the user experience, there is a need for consistency among them. Integration failures and inconsistent affordances impair usability. Overall, the findings suggest that a minimalist design results in a more complex user experience if affordances are not properly balanced and integrated. These results have implications for researchers and practitioners seeking to understand what makes modern IoT devices transparent to use at the physical and digital level.