A Study on the Increase of Intuitive Play in Web Site With Emphasis on the Internet Shopping Mall Design using Tactile User Experience

Seon-Young Hwang, Jong-Hwan Seo

Tongmyung University of Information Technology, Dept of Computer Graphics, 535 Yongdang-dong,

Busan, KOREA, aspirantdesigner@hotmail.com, designstudy@korea.com

Abstract: Users of web sites receive a lot of experienced factors and interpret them through the web sites. The degree

of their satisfaction and increase as the web designers offers the more suitable and plentiful experienced factors. Thus,

the web designers should consider creating a lot of ways for increasing the user's satisfaction, in that the web sites are

not only used for the purpose of communicating information these days. Even some different fields have been

intensively studied on the importance of the stimuli of tactile sense; therefore, we can expect a great deal of effect if

we apply the same theory to the web sites. However, it is impossible to direct stimulation through the user's system, so

the study seeks to find the way, called Cross-Modal Transfer, to transmit the sensible transference from visual or

auditory sense to tactile sense. The study analyzes the user experiences for intuition and the existing research works

along with some cases and the theoretical background for increasing the play. The visibility and the Cross-Modal

Transfer are the direct process of the Tactile User Experience, so this Tactile User Experience enhances not only the

intuitive play but also communication between the designers and the users. We have firstly analyzed the factors of the

Tactile User Experience in the web sites, which were categorized into a sense of quality, weight, temperature, and

movement. We have, then, applied these factors to the Internet shopping mall after considering the effective and

strategic way of practical use.

Key words: Web Design, Tactile Interface, Intuitive Play, User Experience

1. Introduction

Web site designs are subdivided into various styles and actively processed experiments in terms of those

usability and user interfaces. These data of research indicate that web designers showed their focus on more user

centered and intuitive interface to users’ satisfaction. At this point of view, user experiences are much important

materials in the web site. Web site users could receive lots of experience factors, interpreting them on the sites.

Due to these results, users could increase their satisfaction and play. Furnishing user experience on the site can not

only give rise to such active action as researching information and buying products, but also increase interest and

play for users. Among these user experiences, "Tactile User Experience" can offer more intuition and more

information than any other sensory organ. There are various researches for transmission through tactile sense in

other fields such as virtual reality and tactile display. Therefore, it is realistically impossible to directly transmit

tactile sense to users in interface environments. The goal of this research is to try to analyze factors of Tactile

User Experience and to communicate between designers and users on the basis of intuitive play on the web.

Nowadays, users satisfy their expectations that the Internet and various forms of information help users get the

information. Emotion, expansion of stimulating the senses, and a few researches of increase of play, Tactile User

Experience worth of transmitting information is considered in web design.

Fig.1 Increase of Intuitive Play through Tactile User Experience

2. Methodology

The methodology of this research employs the following two research methods related to specific

characteristics of web site medium. The first, suggests possibilities to adoption from a case study in other fields to

web sites through Tactile User Experience. The second is adoption of the Tactile User Experience materials in the

Internet shopping mall after investigation. These methods of research are the two: correlation of intuition and

increase of play, and possibility to divide experience materials and importance of Tactile User Experience in play

increase. Internet shopping mall as an important way of commercial transaction offers convenience of time and

space for users since the advent of the new culture of shopping. However, there is no research about Tactile User

Experience and factors of play in shopping mall. By using the Tactile User Experience in the Internet shopping

mall, a possible expectation is a good condition to shop and interface design of effective Internet shopping mall.

3. Intuition and Play in Web Site

3.1. Intuition

Intuition is theoretically based on Experimental cognition and Reflective cognition. Experimental cognition is

the response that users recognize information and then assimilate without endeavor or time passing. The other side,

Reflective cognition is an inference of provisional results from stored information. This is the generalized

cognition and its process is so slow [2]. Because users can’t analyze or infer the means of each page and situation

to recognize contents of information and thoughts of designer, web sites stimulate the users’ Reflective cognition.

Intuition, Reflective cognition, needs experiences, and it is similar to unconscious action and instinctive

interaction daily life.

3.2. Experience for Intuition on the Web

1) Experience with Learning

Experience with learning is divided into accumulation, coordination, and reconstruction. The first,

accumulation is about the way of expanding information and learning new information. The second, coordination

means experiences from coordinating a knowledge structure. It is able to accomplish the experimental cognition

without any endeavor because of a continuous use of skill and practice. The third, reconstruction is necessary

learning to form the right conceptual structure. It means that reconstruction offers to help us form, investigation,

comparison, unification, and reflection as the adequate tool [2]. Therefore, among the experiences with learning,

experiences of accumulation, and coordination are part of the intuition when users feel it on the web site.

2) Experience with Situated Identification

Situated identification means that users feel the same experiences between the real life and on the web site.

Because situation in situated identification functions as an important role, users could be active participants.

Accordingly, web designers apply experience factors, and design the web site in the diverse ways to achieve a

variety of experiences by participating into the web site.

3) Experience with Interaction

Unlike printing media, web sites can transmit various experiences through interaction and have much advantage

of the additional material such as flow or change of time. In other words, users have lots of experience on the

basis of time passing, degrees of participation, and situational conditions. Through all these processes of

interaction, user experiences of proper and creative reorganization can be transmitted to users.

Fig.2 Experience with Interaction on the Web Site

3.3. Increase of Play

Users on the web have play which is consists of entertaining factors on the site to increase loyalty and relativity

on the sites. Moreover the elements of users’ play pursue two values: convenience or usability and a sense of play

of pleasure or amusement. These play show when users feel the most exciting experience on the web sites. To feel

continuously the most exciting experience, users affect the environment on the basis of the attention. The

environment initiates both interactions between circumstances and senses stimuli [2,3]. Users feel the play while

users participate and identify through individual experiences based on their story and life. In conclusion, attention

and continuous senses stimuli reach users to the most excited experience. At this time, increase of play occurred.

Fig.3 The Increase Process of Intuitive Play in Web Site

According to one of these researches, the worth of play factor, an important factor on the web, is distinguished

apparently from a worth of information transmission. Moreover, play factors offer to users’ play on the web site to

promote a consumption of products and services, and to recognize the subject of consumption or the place of

consumption in itself. When the analyzed play of visual, auditory, and situation appropriately adopt a web site,

users can approach naturally to the web site. Users surf pleasantly the web site not only to get information, but

also to consume goods through these play factors.

3.4. Discovery

The play on the web site occurs when users reach the most exciting experience through continuous sense

stimuli and concentration on background of user experience. Previous researches on sense stimuli only focused on

mostly visual and auditory senses, not on tactile senses. Therefore, through the tactile stimuli, one of the senses,

increase of the user play with interaction is expected.

4. Tactile User Experience on the Web site

4.1. Tactile User Experience

The terms of Tactile User Experience refers to a tactile sense or a similar sense that medium users feel

temperature, quality of objects, and even pain. Tactile sense goes before eyes and nose, so it is more intuitive and

primitive sense than any other human sense. Unlike visual and auditory experiences, the characteristics of tactile

experience can induce medium users to participate more active by a sense of touch. It can offer real and new

experiences formed. Tactile sense includes direct and indirect tactile senses. Direct tactile sense involves humans’

direct touch on objects; indirect tactile sense involves a similarity of sense without direct touch.

4.2. Related Case Study

The research about Tactile User Experience obtains lots of results in various fields. One of them is human

sensibility ergonomics. It is used by the tactile sense for confronting in reserve, richness, safety of highly

complicated, developed products, and its operation. Also psychology, management of products, human interface,

and industrial design are applied to the tactile sense. Especially the field of Virtual Reality, Haptic Display, and

Haptic Sensor is used to tactile sense in various ways [1]. These researches allow users to communicate freely for

creating the reality world using tactile sense.

4.3. Visibility and Cross-Modal Transfer

Users on the web are aware of their pushing and rotating the button to their visible form. Accordingly,

converting the tactile factors into visible ones, users have the various Tactile User Experiences through the

interaction for using the factors that users can know immediately and definitely Tactile User Experience. Users at

the first sense on object by five senses, and then they reconstruct object information, which is called the Cross-

Modal Matching or Cross-Modal Transfer. It is an ability of interpreting sensory information from different senses

as identified information. Users are hard to directly on the basis of tactile experience, only to listen to speakers or

to watch monitors. Recognition of objects through visual or auditory sense can transmit tactile sense. Tactile User

Experience on the web site come from function of Cross-Modal Transfer, so the GUI and sounds effect are based

on indirect experience through efficient design of none tactile materials.

Fig.4 The process of Tactile Experience with Cross-Modal Transfer on the Web Site

4.4. Classified Factors of Tactile User Experience

1) Factors of Visibility in Tactile Stimuli

Among the factors of tactile experience, visible factors are divided into color, form, image, and pattern. These

factors stimulate users’ tactile senses through various expressions of visible factors.

2) Factors of Invisibility in Tactile Stimuli

Tactile User Experiences are segmented into quality, weight, temperature, and movement sense. The case study

is about various experimental transmission and their applications. Quality sense is a feeling of characteristics from

object's quality. Weight sense is worthy, how heavy the object looks or how much important. Temperature sense

is a feeling of temperature. Movement sense is activity or shaking of objects. These categories are sense of feeling

to block visual, auditory sense, and then we find simultaneously stimulus of invisible factors.

4.5. Discovery

To adopt the Tactile User Experience on the web site through the research of tactile sense in other filed, we

research increase of intuitive play through tactile stimuli. That is based on the tactile experience in Cross-model

Transfer and visual expressing of invisible factors. This study excludes case study of visible factors in tactile

sense.

5. The case study - The Internet shopping mall

5.1. Example of Application in Factors of Tactile User Experience

We recommend creative idea of using four Tactile User Experience factors such as quality, weight, temperature,

and movement on the web site.

1) Quality Sense

Quality Sense is the feeling coming from the quality of the materials. These feelings, such as softness, hardness,

freshness, and wearing, are expressed by change of the quality of the materials, fumble of form, tearing. For

example, if these quality elements are put into a button, we can change it into a worn one by finger push to

express its frequent use. Take another example, we experience not only real paper quality like a shopping catalog,

but feeling when we turn in a page, feeling of finger-marked page. These quality factors change on a repetitive

acting and a flow of time, and offered the different Tactile User Experience factors to users.

Fig.5 Examples of Quality Sense Application in the Internet Shopping Mall

2) Weight Sense

Weight Sense is the degree of weight or worthy. To have viewers feel heavy, light, many or few contents, and

thick, we use the resistance, change the size, fill up the objects, and sink the cover, disparity of the curving cover

and the height. For instance, loading the data and expressing the shopping mall cart, we expressed differently by

that sink the cover due to its quantities. Another example, as dragging a purchasing item with mouse, we are

aware intuitionally of object's worthy and importance as to express feeling of dragging differently without

opening or by that. Users recognize the circumstances with them.

Fig.6 Examples of Weight Sense Application in the Internet Shopping Mall

3) Temperature Sense

Heat Sense is a feeling of temperature. To have the users feel hot, cool, and high or low on basis of passing

time, we use the change of color and the form of heat generation. For example, according to the number of

visiting hits or purchase popularity, we express the effects that icon gets the fire or cooling when mouse rolls over

the objects. Users are easily aware of the purchasing degree rather using the activation than a quantitative

expressing of some numerical value, a purchasing popularity, or the value of visitors. Another example, when

users keep contact on the any site or web page, we express the radiating effects on monitor factors. In this way, we

transmit the temperature sense to users without numerically appearing the how it takes. Therefore, these monitor

elements prevent users from going on an indiscreet shopping spree.

Fig.7 Examples of Heat Sense Application in the Internet Shopping Mall

4) Movement Sense

Movement sense means a feeling of moving objects. Movement sense is utilized the mouse pointer, shaking the

browser, and bumping to express the consciousness, delight, surprise, and attention. On the Internet shopping mall,

when users roll over the goods that are bought or interested before, we transmit the delight and affection with the

shaking effects. Through these effects, users are easily aware of purchasing and interested goods before. Another

example, when users make an error or mistake of clicking in a member registration or a credit card number, we

transmit definitely the attention and consciousness with effects of throwing down the tools.

Fig.8 Examples of Motion Sense Application in the Internet Shopping Mall

The table below shows the Tactile User Experience factors.

Table1. Tactile User Experience in the Internet Shopping Mall

Factors What How Where Case

Quality Sense

Softness

Hardness

Newness

Wearing

Change of quality

Fumble

Tearing

Button

Background

Change of quality on the basis of visitation

Catalog

Weight Sense

Heavy

Light

Contents

Worthy

Change of size

Sink the cover

Resistance

Loading

Shopping-

Cart

Folder

Change of the cover when data load

Dragging

Temperature Sense Hot

Cool

Change of color

Radiation

Link

Button

Purchase-

window

Change of mouse arrow

Radiation of window

Movement Sense

Consciousness

Attention

Surprise

Delight

Shaking

Bumping

Mouse-

arrow

Error -

window

Shake the mouse arrow

Hit the window

5.2. Discovery and Discussion

Users expect the increase of play through the application of Tactile User Experience factors in the Internet

shopping mall with the most excited experience among various situations. This increase of play stimulates

consumption in Internet shopping mall, and expect both new experience and effect of revisiting. By designing the

tactile factors with consumer active model, web site offer various, fluent stimulus of senses to users who use the

Internet shopping mall.

Thus, the play on the web site expands its meaning, not only through the stimulus of visual and auditory sense,

but also user experience through the stimulus of tactile sense. However, in an easy application of Tactile User

Experience factors, we research and discuss continuously about Internet shopping mall and other web sites

designed for various purposes.

6. The Experiment of User Response

6.1. Purpose

This experiment has three purposes. First, we research the real sense through the model web sites using Tactile

User Experience and then analyze emotional images in a qualitative method. Second, we cross-examine between

the situation of user’s cognition and the situation of designer’s intention. Third, we analyze the increase of play as

user’s satisfactions through the model Internet shopping mall.

6.2. Hypothesis and Process of Experiment

1) Hypothesis

This experiment is about user’s response in Internet shopping mall using Tactile User Experience factors. So the

hypothesis is that the web site using Tactile User Experience enhances the user’s satisfaction and transfers more

intuitive information.

2) Design of the Model Web Sites

This study designed the model web site focused on the movement sense and temperature sense among the

factors of Tactile User Experience.

First model web site (M1) using the factor of movement offers the mouse pointer that embodies the different

movement at each menu and offers the Tactile Interface based on the number of user’s participation and relation

grades.

Fig.9 The Model Web Site (M1) using the Factor of Movement Sense

Second model web site (M2) embodied that the tool hits immediately as user’s errors and offers the intuitive

consciousness and attention.

Fig.10 The Model Web Site (M2) using the Factor of Movement Sense

Third model web site (M3) is designed to the changeable mouse pointer and grades of heat generation in

surroundings as user’s participative grades and active grades of communities in online shopping mall using the

factor of temperature. This offers the intuitive circumstantial cognition as the change of color and generation of

heat.

Fig.11 The Model Web Site (M3) using the Factor of Temperature Sense

3) Method of Experiment

The users, 10 people, who use the Internet very often (a using period of Internet: over 1 year, using Time: over

3 hours a day) participated in the experiment and they used the each model web sites freely and then we had the

intensive interview with them and had them answer some questionnaires. The results are based on the analysis of

the user responses.

7. Result Analysis

7.1. Analysis of User Emotion

First of all, we suggested that the users could choice an adjective among the 16 adjectives feeling the emotion

after use the web site. The results are ‘amusing’ 23.0%, ‘surprising’ 23.0% in M1, ‘surprising’ 30.8%, ‘absurd’

26.9% in M2, ‘amusing’ 34.6%, ‘lively’ 23.0% in M3. It means that the web site using Tactile User Experience

factors transmits information to users through more intuitive attention as causing the emotion like ‘amusing’,

‘surprising’, ‘absurd’, or ‘lively’.

7.2. Analysis of Transmission Senses

We analyzed what kind of sense Tactile User Experience factors stimulate. Among the senses, the response has

shown evenly tactile sense as well as visual and auditory sense which stimuli directly. Especially the users using

the model web site feel the visual + tactile (10%), auditory + tactile (10%), and visual + auditory + tactile (50%).

The transmission of information records up to 70% through Cross-Modal Transfer, from visual and auditory sense

to tactile sense.

Fig.12 The Response of Senses in Model Web Sites

7.3. Analysis of Suitability of Information Transmission in Circumstantial Cognition

This table below resulted from a comparative analysis between circumstances of user’s cognition in the web

site and circumstances of designer’s intention.

Table2. Results in Suitability of Information Transmission in Circumstantial Cognition

Excellent Very Good Good Not Good Bad

M1 30 60 0 10 0

M2 50 30 10 10 0

M3 50 20 30 0 0

Total (%) 43.3 36.6 13.3 6.6 0

The numerical value of response, which is ‘Very Good’ or more to information and circumstantial cognition in

model web sites, is 79.9%, and this result means that Tactile User Experience factor is able to help to design more

intuitive interface in the aspect of efficiency.

7.4. Analysis of a Degree of Satisfaction as Experiences

This result is analysis about users’ positive emotion and feeling when they make use of the web site using

Tactile User Experience factors.

Table3. Results in a Degree of Satisfaction as Experiences

Excellent Very Good Good Not Good Bad

M1 20 60 10 10 0

M2 20 60 10 10 0

M3 50 30 10 10 0

Total (%) 30.0 50.0 10.0 10.0 0

The number of users who feel positive emotion after using the model web site is up to about 80%. Therefore,

Tactile User Experience factors affect positively to the users’ experience and increase users’ satisfaction.

8. Conclusions and Further Research

We’ve defined the meaning of user experience and covered the result of other research and then analyzed

Tactile User Experience and its characteristics. As applying these Tactile User Experiences to the Internet

shopping mall, we’ve tried to lay groundwork for the basic research on intuitive play increase in web sites. The

result is that intuition needs the experience through Experimental cognition and Reflective cognition, and the

experience is categorized into such as Learning, Situated identification, and Interaction.

The increase of play through Tactile User Experiences on the web sites stands on the basis of experiences and

Cross-Modal Transfer. The application of these Tactile User Experience factors helps users’ increase the intuitive

play, effective information transmission, and improvement of skillful communication. In the future, improving the

input and output of devices, we expect the research about not the tactile experience with Cross-Modal Transfer but

direct tactile experiences. Nevertheless, without the expensive equipment or special change of interface, we

definitely expect effective results through possessed equipment and environment offering these tactile experiences.

Continuously, the research, users’ responses in web sites using Tactile User Experience factors, is

First, it brings about the intuitive emotion and is able to transfer experiences through Cross-Modal Transfer.

Second, it helps the effective transmission of information through the intuitive interface.

Last, it transfers positive experiences to users and increase play as increasing the satisfaction.

Consequently, we will research other factors like quality and weight sense of Tactile User Experience and other

fields of web sites as well as Internet shopping mall.

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