Optimal experience of Web activities

Flow Experience in Cyberspace: Current Studies and Perspectives

“…Although some scholars consider this set of characteristics, which were introduced and described by Csikszentmihalyi and his followers, as nonpredictive and lacking rigorous operationalizations, there are other investigators who administered surveys and semistructured interviews within the samples of the frequent cyberspace visitors. After they coded, sorted, and analyzed the narratives, they were able to confirm that the characteristics of flow described by Csikszentmihalyi were close to what the competent respondents expressed (Chen, 2006;Chen, Wigand, & Nilan, 1999;Novak, Hoffman, & Duhachek, 2003;Pace, 2004). As a result, the diverse "flow models" are based on the slightly different sets of characteristics, which are sometimes defined differently.…”

“…In subsequent publications (Novak, Hoffman, & Yung, 2000;Novak et al, 2003), the authors empirically validated the inclusion of some of these characteristics (for example, presence and interactivity) into the model, which they developed and later revised. The inclusion of media-specific characteristics referring to the mediated environments seems a reasonable thing to do; moreover, "presence," or a feeling such as being in a somewhat different place, possibly sharing this place with other people was not once named by respondents in interviews or surveys, among other characteristics (Chen et al, 1999;Pace, 2004;Skadberg & Kimmel, 2004).…”

“…Its analysis was first presented by several authors, including Rafaeli (1988). Since that time, the concept of interactivity has not once been investigated in the contexts of sociology, communication science, and psychology (Chung & Zhao, 2004;Sohn & Lee, 2005), nor discussed in the context of the flow experience in cyberspace (Chen et al, 1999;Finneran & Zhang, 2005;Liao, 2006;Nakatsu, Rauterberg, & Vorderer, 2005;Novak & Hoffman, 1997;Novak et al, 2000). The two terms, presence and interactivity, are probably the best terms to characterize the specifics of flow experienced in cyberspace environments.…”

“…Rettie states that "while respondents recognized most of Csikszentmihalyi's dimensions, the merging of action and awareness and loss of self-consciousness were not really relevant" (Rettie, 2001, p. 111). Chen et al (1999) also report that they faced some problems placing the parameter "actions and awareness become merged" exclusively into the "antecedents of flow" group because this parameter might have partly fallen into several groups. One can easily conclude that possible classifications in the field should not be considered entirely predictable.…”

Remote Experiments and Online Games: How to Merge them?

“…Flow describes a state of complete involvement and engagement in the activity. In computer-mediated environment flow is broken down into three parts: flow antecedents, flow experience and flow consequences [15]. The flow antecedents include focused attention, a clear set of goals, control, skills, and immediate and appropriate feedback (Fig.…”