INBCT 4.2

 

 

 

Anssi Mattila

THE DIFFERENT DIMENSIONS OF SEAMLESS USER EXPERIENCE IN MOBILE BUSINESS

 

 

The seamless user experience can be defined in terms of usability and customer’s perceived quality. Our definition for seamless user experience is based on the idea of transparency. The technology should be transparent toward the customer providing a seamless technology-human interaction. The services often need to be modified when moved over channels. This is also true when moving and creating new services within the existing electronic environment. Even though the traditional Internet and mobile Internet are both used as platforms for an electronic business, the modes of operations differ in these two channels vastly. The devices used are different, the user segments are different and the determinants of usability are different. Therefore, we postulate that the Internet-based services cannot be transferred to be used via mobile devices without extensive modifications.

 

The areas of website usability and Internet service quality have been studied profoundly. However, the seamless user experience in a wireless network seems to be a lot less studied area of research even though the business transactions conducted over mobile devices are growing in an accelerating speed. In this paper we will provide research findings on what is the customers’ perception about mobile service usability and how they further define the mobile service usability. Based on our previous research in this area, we assume that the customers’ perception about remote web usability is born mainly during the customer-technology interface. However, it’s is highly likely, that there are also other phases in the formulation of a seamless user experience. The customer’s definition for a seamless user experience is molded by a variety of factors such as customer’s personal skills (mobile device literacy, innovativeness), culture (learnt behavioral patterns), reference group (status) and attitudes (device attitude, previous technology experience). We study these affecting factors in detail to enable the move of existing services over new channels. Therefore the findings of this research provide a valuable insight in mass customization process in mobile business.

 

The depth of experienced remote web usability affects the adoption of technology-based services differently in different customer segments. Based on a large quantitative survey data (N = 3000), we form an optimal service range in a multi-channel system aimed at different customer segments. It is assumed that the customer segments differ at least in terms of their innovativeness, technology and device perceptions and demographic variables.