Understanding interactive technology in organizational settings: A focus on user experience

The technology we use in everyday life, both at home and at work has become increasingly complex and, at the same time, offers more diverse interaction opportunities. It has been a long time since we stopped using technology only as a tool to make our tasks easier. How many of us can’t go to bed before checking their preferred social networking website one last time? Is it because we need to solve a task? Usually no! It is because of how it makes us feel: connected, happy, joyful, inspired, and so on. All these have become important criteria defining our reactions to technology and research indicates they will become even more important for the overall success of any technological product (Nielsen, 2008). But how much does this apply to interactive technology at work? One straightforward answer might be “not too much” as work is primarily about fulfilling our tasks. There are several arguments for which this answer is no longer appropriate. First, the boundaries between technologies we use at work and at home are becoming blurred (Rebelo, Noriega, Duarte, & Soares, 2012) with many consumer technological products and interactive technologies penetrating organizations. Moreover, organizations adopt these new technologies hoping they will facilitate radical changes in the way things are done (Nicholls, 2010). The way technology can support these changes is related more to its ability to facilitate an interaction that stimulates intrinsic motivation, curiosity, mastery and positive feelings and less to its specific functionalities. This leads to the second argument, that positive emotions and intrinsic motivation that interaction might foster are associated with a series of work related individual and organizational outcomes. A review by Brief and Weiss (2002) shows that affect is positively related to creative problem solving and creativity, helping and cooperation, performance, and reduced withdrawal behaviors. Moreover, Gagné and Deci (2005) underline that when people are intrinsically motivated at work, and engage in activities (many of which are technology supported) because they find the activity itself interesting, stimulating and fun, they persist more in tasks, are able to sustain behavioral changes and improve their performance, have more positive attitudes and higher organizational commitment, and have a higher well-being. These outcomes are likely to become essential for future organizations as, in an era characterized by complexity and unpredictability, they will depend more and more on their ability to adapt and innovate (Griffin, Neal, & Parker, 2007). It becomes apparent that organizations have plenty of reasons for which they should strive to understand how positive emotions and intrinsic motivation can be fostered by the technology they use. Third, intrinsic motivation is supported by the satisfaction of basic human needs: competence, autonomy, relatedness, stimulation and so on (Gagné & Deci, 2005). We can’t expect people to suddenly have different needs regarding interaction with (sometimes Daniela Andrei Babeş-Bolyai University, Romania & University of Western Australia, Australia