Modeling User Satisfaction, Frustration, and User Goal/Website Compatibility

Abstract

Users often come to websites with a specific type of purpose or goal, which defines how the user interacts with the site. Two types of task-goals addressed in this study include general browsing and specific information seeking. Likewise, the design and organization of different websites can facilitate different user goals. User satisfaction and frustration from interacting with a particular website depends on the compatibility between the website design and the user's type of goal. This study applies simulation techniques to investigate how the compatibility between user goals and website design impacts user satisfaction and frustration levels. The simulation results show that navigation tools that increase compatibility versus attractiveness (the increased likelihood of use) have a greater impact on customer satisfaction and could in turn maximize the effectiveness of website usage.