Communicating with ugly but

efficient charactersHenriette van Vugt

Elly Konijn

Johan Hoorn

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

24 nov 2005

Etmaal van de communicatiewetenschap

Users respond differently to interfaces encorporating an interface character than to those without an interface character

Persona effect

Aim of the project

2 main perspectives

Human-like appearance and behavior

– Social responses

– Similarities engagement real human beings

Computer application

– Task context

– Similarities use intention other applications

I-PEFiC model

Are the Engagement and Interaction process dependent on each other?

Experimental design

Manipulations - Aesthetics

Ugly: Berta Beautiful: Bella

Aids: knowledgeable, fast

Obstacles: clumsy, slow

Manipulations - Affordances

Method

•120 participants

•I-PEFiC measures (Cronbach’s alpha > .70)

•5 tasks, as quickly as possiblee.g. “Have Bella repair the sink”

•If task finished, stop the clock, write time down

•Completion of the 5 tasksSlow (about 12 minutes) or fast (about 6 minutes)

•Then, questionnaire, and one more task

CHARACTER

SYSTEM

Relevance

Distance Satisfaction

UseIntentions

AffordancesAid

Obstacle

Aesthetics Beautiful

Ugly

Valence

Involvement

Results

CHARACTER

SYSTEM

Relevance

Distance Satisfaction

UseIntentions

AffordancesAid

Obstacle

Aesthetics Beautiful

Ugly

Valence

Involvement

Results

CHARACTER

SYSTEM

Relevance

Distance Satisfaction

UseIntentions

AffordancesAid

Obstacle

Aesthetics Beautiful

Ugly

Valence

Involvement

Results

CHARACTER

SYSTEM

Relevance

Distance Satisfaction

UseIntentions

AffordancesAid

Obstacle

Aesthetics Beautiful

Ugly

Valence

Involvement

Results

Main conclusion

‘Digital bonds’ between humans and interface characters are established by both the character’s visual appearance and the affordances it offers for task execution.

Discussion

Trend in game industry:

More game AI, less graphic game design

Future research:

Different task environment

On/off function