Facilitating engaging user experiences is essential in the design of interactive systems. To accomplish this, it is necessary to understand the composition of this construct and how to evaluate it. Building on previous work that posited a theory of engagement and identified a core set of attributes that operationalized this construct, we constructed and evaluated a multidimensional scale to measure user engagement. In this paper we describe the development of the scale, as well as two large-scale studies (N = 440 and N = 802) that were undertaken to assess its reliability and validity in online shopping environments. In the first we used Reliability Analysis and Exploratory Factor Analysis to identify six attributes of engagement: Perceived Usability, Aesthetics, Focused Attention, Felt Involvement, Novelty, and Endurability. In the second we tested the validity of and relationships among those attributes using Structural Equation Modeling. The result of this research is a multidimensional scale that may be used to test the engagement of software applications. In addition, findings indicate that attributes of engagement are highly intertwined, a complex interplay of user-system interaction variables. Notably, Perceived Usability played a mediating role in the relationship between Endurability and Novelty, Aesthetics, Felt Involvement, and Focused Attention.

a b s t r a c tUser experience seeks to promote rich, engaging interactions between users and systems. In order for this experience to unfold, the user must be motivated to initiate an interaction with the technology. This study explored hedonic and utilitarian motivations in the context of user engagement with online shopping. Factor analysis was performed to identify a parsimonious set of factors from the Hedonic and Utilitarian Shopping Motivation Scale and the User Engagement Scale based on responses from 802 shoppers. Multiple linear regression was used to test hypotheses with hedonic and utilitarian motivations (Idea, Social, Adventure/Gratification, Value and Achievement Shopping) and attributes of user engagement (Aesthetics, Focused Attention, Perceived Usability, and Endurability). Results demonstrate the salience of Adventure/Gratification Shopping and Achievement Shopping Motivations to specific variables of user engagement in the e-commerce environment and provide considerations for the inclusion of different types of motivation into models of engaging user experiences.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO ENGAGE USERS?o In today's wired world, users have enhanced expectations about their interactions with technology … resulting in increased competition amongst the purveyors and designers of interactive systems.o In addition to utilitarian factors, such as usability, we must consider the hedonic and experiential factors of interacting with technology, such as fun, fulfillment, play, and user engagement. WHAT IS USER ENGAGEMENT (UE)? (I)o "The state of mind that we must attain in order to enjoy a representation of an action" so that we may experience computer worlds "directly, without mediation or distraction" (Laurel, 1993, pp. 112-113, 116).o "Engagement is a user's response to an interaction that gains maintains, and encourages their attention, particularly when they are intrinsically motivated" (Jacques, 1996, p. 103).o A quality of user experience that depends on the aesthetic appeal, novelty, and usability of the system, the ability of the user to attend to and become involved in the experience, and the user's overall evaluation of the experience. Engagement depends on the depth of participation the user is able to achieve with respect to each experiential attribute (O'Brien & Toms, 2008).o "…explain[s] how and why applications attract people to use them" (Sutcliffe, 2010, p. 3). 8 WHAT IS UE? (II)o User engagement is a quality of the user experience that emphasizes the positive aspects of interaction -in particular the fact of being captivated by the technology (Attfield et al, 2011 14 SOME CAVEATS (I)o This tutorial assumes that web application are "properly designed"• We do not look into how to design good web site (although some user engagement measurement may inform for an enhanced design).o This tutorial is based on "published research" literature • We do not know how each individual company and organization measure user engagement (although we guess some common baselines).o This tutorial focuses on web applications that users "chose" to engage with• A web tool that has to be used e.g. for work purpose, is totally different (users have no choice).o This tutorial is not an "exhaustive" account of all existing works • We focus on work that we came across and that has influenced us; if we have missed something important, let us know. 15 SOME CAVEATS (II)o This tutorial focuses on web applications that are widely used by "anybody" on a "large-scale"• User engagement in the game industry or education have different characteristics.o This tutorial does not focus on the effect of advertisements on user engagement• We assume that web applications that display ads do so in a "normal" way so that to not annoy or frustrate users.o This tutorial looks at user engagement at web application "level"• Although we use examples and may refer to specific sites or types of applications, we do not focus on any particular applications.o This tutorial is not about "how" to influence user engagement  16

The user experience is an integral component of interactive information retrieval (IIR). However, there is a twofold problem in the measurement of user experience. Firstly, while many IIR studies have relied on a single dimension of user feedback, that of satisfaction, experience is a much more complex concept. IIR in general, and exploratory search more specifically, are dynamic, multifaceted experiences that evoke pragmatic and hedonic needs, expectations, and outcomes that are not adequately captured by user satisfaction. Secondly, questionnaires, which are typically the means in which user's attitudes and perceptions are measured, are not typically subjected to rigorous reliability and validity testing. To address these issues, we administered the multidimensional User Engagement Scale (UES) in an exploratory search environment to assess users' perceptions of the Perceived Usability (PUs), Aesthetics (AE), Novelty (NO), Felt Involvement (FI), Focused Attention (FA), and Endurability (EN) aspects of the experience. In a typical laboratory-style study, 381 participants performed three relatively complex search tasks using a novel search interface, and responded to the UES immediately upon completion. We used Principal Axis Factor Analysis and Multiple Regression to examine the factor structure of UES items and the relationships amongst factors. Results showed that three of the six sub-scales (PUs, AE, FA) were stable, while NO, FI and EN merged to form a single factor. We discuss recommendations for revising and validating the UES in light of these findings.

No abstract