Purpose: This project is a case study that through Social Constructivism of Technology and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, seeks to understand why some people will accept a technology and why others will not. This is with the aim of being better at understanding what makes a technology successful to its users, or why it fails.
Background: Apps can be an important part of people’s life, not just as a source for Facebook, MobilePay or Instagram, but as an important tool when managing chronic illnesses communication with financial institution or the public sector. Many factors come into play, when determining whether or not, people will take to use a smartphone app, and there is a need for reflection and rethinking in the development and design of mobile apps, if and they is to survive in today’s competitive market. The case was the app MinForening created by the company MinForening (in English “MyOrganization”) a small startup firm, founded by a group of people who are passionate about Danish voluntary organizations (VO’s); their mission statement is to make life easier for people participating in voluntary work within different organizations and associations
Methods: the data collection consisted of two interviews with people from MinForening, an interview with two members of the VO TRoA, and a visit to a running club called PGU Runners. The project uses the principle of SCOT to analyze what different social groups there exist in relation to MinForening, then applies the concepts from UTAUT to examine the relevant social group’s experiences of the app, as well as the principle of SCOT to analyze what problems each relevant social group’s experi-ences in relation to the app. In the end, this project compares the results from the data collection and analysis, to determine when/why the acceptance/implementation of MinForening has been a success, and when/why it has failed.
Results: The result of the project was that the successful acceptance of the technology by PGU Runners was mainly due to the fact, that the factors effecting user acceptance (from UTAUT) had been positive in their interaction with the app, and that the problems they experienced in relation to the app, were not severe enough to hinder acceptance. Some surprising results was revealed during this project. The first was the importance of individual in the successful acceptance of technology in organiza-tions, and the importance of informant S in initiating the implementation of MinForening into PGU Runners. The second sur-prising result was the significance of “novelty” in relation to user acceptance of smartphone apps. It was learned from the informants form TRoA, that one of the main reasons they did not see the app as being useful for TRoA, was because the app did not offer any new functions than for example Facebook cannot. In TRoA’s case, this could be a way to manage their physical resources.