Verification Steps and Personal Stories in an Instruction Manual for Seniors: Effects on Confidence, Motivation, and Usability

Abstract

Research problem:The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of two types of motivational elements-verification steps and personal stories-in an instruction manual for a cell phone targeted at senior users (between 60 and 70 years). Research questions: What are the effects of adding verification steps and personal stories to an instruction manual on: (1) Seniors' confidence in being able to work with a cell phone? (2) Seniors' motivation to work with a cell phone? (3) Seniors' effectiveness and efficiency in performing tasks, and their satisfaction with the cell phone and the instruction manual (usability)? Literature review: To optimize products and services for older users, the literature suggests that two specific motivational elements may be beneficial: (1) verification steps, which provide information at the end of procedures to allow users to check if these procedures were performed correctly. These appear to users as part of conventional procedural information in user instructions and (2) personal stories, which are anecdotes or testimonials that describe how a fictitious user succeeded in completing a procedure. Methodology: We conducted a quantitative experiment in which 59 seniors between 60 and 70 years of age participated. They performed a number of tasks with a cell phone, using a version of the instruction manual with added verification steps, or a version with additional personal stories, or a control version without motivational elements. We measured participants' confidence, their motivation, and usability by asking them to answer several questionnaires and by measuring task performance. Results and conclusions: Results support the use of verification steps or personal stories as motivational elements in user instructions as they can positively affect confidence, motivation, and usability, especially when senior users encounter setbacks.

Validation of the Instructional Materials Motivation Survey (IMMS) in a self‐directed instructional setting aimed at working with technology

“…Another explanation for the discrepancy between outcomes of behavior-deduced and selfreported measures of motivation is that the IMMS might not be suitable for measuring motivational differences in our self-directed instructional setting after all. The ARCS Model-which the IMMS is based on-did prove effective in our setting (see Loorbach, Karreman, & Steehouder, 2007, 2013, in spite of its original aim to increase motivation in instructor-facilitated instructional settings (Keller, 2010, p. 310). This article describes a validation of the IMMS to rule out or confirm this second explanation; that the IMMS as it is might not be suitable for measuring motivational differences in a self-directed instructional setting.…”

Getting the Picture: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Chinese and Western Users’ Preferences for Image Types in Manuals for Household Appliances

“…Chinese users might also expect to get confidence and motivation from diverting, cartoon-like pictures (a direction of confidence and motivation research that has not been explored in Western technical communication literature; cf. Loorbach et al, 2007Loorbach et al, , 2013. In contrast, Chinese users have less appreciation for the strictly instrumental instructions in manuals.…”

“…From a UX perspective, pictures in manuals can make completely different contributions. They might, for instance, contribute to image and reputation (De Jong, Yang, & Karreman, 2017), reinforce users’ satisfaction with the product, enhance the overall attractiveness of the manual and the product, motivate users to use the manual and enhance their self-confidence (Loorbach, Karreman, & Steehouder, 2007, 2013), or help to establish a relationship with the user. The role of pictures for these purposes has not yet been researched, but it is clear that pictures can make a powerful contribution here, similar to the way they do in other communication domains (Chan & Park, 2015; Hart & Feldman, 2016; Lazard & Atkinson, 2015; Powell, Boomgaarden, De Swert, & De Vreese, 2015).…”

Technical communication in China : studies on the user experience of technical documentation

“…In the version of enhancing self-confidence, a verification image is added after the critical step to help users confirm whether the action is successful. Experiments find that users who use the manual designed to enhance self-confidence complete more tasks and persist for the longest time (Loorbach et al, 2007). Although this study is not entirely aimed at improving the emotional experience of documents, it proves a close relationship between motivation level and emotion.…”