Decision Making in Use Contexts: Can User Decision Behaviour Be Influenced by Means of Sunk Time, Framing, and default?

Petersen Warming, Krestina ; Boesen, Sigrid

4. term

Engineering Psychology, Master

2011

2011-05-31

206

Dette projekt tager udgangspunkt i psykologisk forskning, der viser, at mennesker under visse omstændigheder kan træffe valg, som virker irrationelle. Formålet er at undersøge, om de samme beslutningsmønstre også optræder i reelle brugssituationer. Tre områder inden for beslutningstagning belyses: sunk time-effekten (tendensen til at fortsætte, fordi man allerede har investeret tid), indramningseffekten (at præsentationen af et valg påvirker beslutningen) og standardvalgseffekten (tendensen til at beholde forudvalgte indstillinger). For hvert område gennemføres brugerrelaterede eksperimenter for at se effekterne fra flere vinkler. Resultaterne viser, at sunk time-effekten gør sig gældende i brugssituationer, her formidlet gennem ventetider: Jo mere der var ventet, desto mere tilbøjelige var deltagerne til at fortsætte. Indramningseffekten blev undersøgt som referenceindramning i skydebjælker (sliders) og som farveindramning, men her fandtes ingen signifikante effekter. Standardvalgseffekten blev testet i systemopsætningsscenarier, hvor deltagerne kunne ændre eller beholde standardindstillinger; effekten var ikke tydelig i ukendte scenarier, men var stærkere i kendte scenarier. Selv om ikke alle resultater viste klare tendenser, peger arbejdet på, at designvalg kan påvirke beslutningsadfærd i brugssituationer. Derfor bør sådanne parametre indgå i design, der retter sig mod mennesker.

This project builds on psychological research showing that people sometimes make choices that appear irrational under certain conditions. The aim is to test whether these decision patterns also occur in real use situations. Three topics in decision making are examined: the sunk time effect (the tendency to continue because time has already been invested), the framing effect (how the presentation of options influences choices), and the default effect (the tendency to keep preselected settings). For each topic, user-focused experiments were conducted to view the effects from different angles. The results indicate that a sunk time effect is present in use situations and is mediated by waiting time: the longer participants had already waited, the more likely they were to continue. The framing effect was examined through reference framing in slider controls and through color framing; no significant effects were found. The default effect was tested in system setup scenarios where participants could adjust or keep default settings; the effect was not apparent in unfamiliar scenarios, but it was stronger in familiar ones. Although not all findings show clear patterns, the work emphasizes that design choices can influence decision behavior in use situations. These factors should therefore be considered in human-centered design.

[This abstract was generated with the help of AI]

Decision Making ; Sunk Time ; Framing ; Default

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