[Apologies for any cross-posting] Special Issue of International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction: HCI Studies in Management Information Systems Vol. 19, No. 1, 2005 AIS SIGHCI (http://sigs.aisnet.org/sighci/) sponsored and fast-tracked expansions of best completed research papers from HCI track at AMCIS 2004 to this special issue of International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction (IJHCI). Papers that successfully underwent the 2-3 rounds of review process were published in this special issue. Guest Editors: Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah, University of Nebraska, Lincoln Ping Zhang, Syracuse University Scott McCoy, College of William and Mary Papers in the Special Issue: 1. Visualizing E-Brand Personality: Exploratory Studies on Visual Attributes and E-Brand Personalities in Korea (pp. 7-34) Su-e Park, Dongsung Choi, and Jinwoo Kim The brand personality of an online product and service, usually represented by a web site, is known as its e-brand personality. In the competitive conditions of online markets, e-brand personality is agreed to be an important factor in securing distinctive identity; however, few studies have suggested how to establish e-brand personality through the visual design of web sites. This study explores the feasibility of constructing target e-brand personalities for online services by using visual attributes. It consists of three consecutive studies. The first study identified four major dimensions of e-brand personality on diverse web sites. The second study used 52 experimental home pages to identify key visual attributes associated with those four personality dimensions. The third study explored whether those findings from the second study can be applied in constructing websites for online services. The results show that two visual attributes, simplicity and cohesion, are closely related to a bold personality. Three attributes, contrast, density, and regularity, can be used to create a web site that has an analytical personality. Contrast, cohesion, density, and regularity are closely related to a web site that is perceived to have a friendly personality. Regularity and balance were expected to be related to the sophisticated personality dimension, but no such relation was identified in the third study. The article concludes with a discussion of implications, limitations, and future research directions. 2. The Enhanced Restricted Focus Viewer (pp. 35-54) Peter Tarasewich, Marc Pomplun, Stephanie Fillion, and Daniel Broberg The Enhanced Restricted Focus Viewer (ERFV) is a unique software tool for tracking the visual attention of users in hyperlinked environments such as Web sites. The software collects data such as mouse clicks along with the path of the user’s visual attention as they browse a site. Unlike traditional eye-tracking procedures, the ERFV requires no hardware to operate other than a personal computer. In addition to cost and time savings, the ERFV also allows the administration of usability testing to groups of subjects simultaneously. A laboratory test comparing the ERFV to a hardware-based eye-tracking system showed that the two methods compare favorably in terms of how well they track a user’s visual attention. The usefulness of the ERFV as a usability testing tool was demonstrated through an experiment that evaluated two Web sites that were equivalent in content but differed in terms of design. While several open issues concerning the ERFV still remain, some of these issues are being addressed through ongoing research efforts. 3. Issues in Building Multi-User Interfaces (pp. 55-74) V. Srinivasan Rao, Wai-Lan Luk, and John Warren The proliferation of interest in collaborative computer applications in the past decade has resulted in a corresponding increase in the interest in multi-user interfaces. The current research seeks to contribute to an understanding of the process of developing user models for group interaction, and to the design and implementation of multi-user interfaces based on the model. We use group ranking as an exemplar task. User requirements were identified, by observing groups perform the ranking task in a non-computer environment. A design was proposed based on the identified requirements and a prototype implemented. Feedback from informal user evaluation of the implemented interface is reported. Insights on the methodology are discussed. 4. Online Consumer Trust and Live Help Interfaces: The Effects of Text-to-Speech Voice and 3D Avatars (pp. 75-94) Lingyun Qiu and Izak Benbasat With the increasing prevalence of online shopping, many companies have begun to provide Live Help functions, through instant messaging or text chatting, on their websites to facilitate interactions between online consumers and customer service representatives (CSRs). The continuing reliance of these functions on text-based communication limits non-verbal communication with consumers and the social contexts for the information conveyed, but with the help of emerging multimedia technologies, companies can now use computer-generated voice and humanoid avatars to embody CSRs, thus enriching the interactive experiences of their customers. In this study, a laboratory experiment was conducted to empirically test the effects of Text-To-Speech (TTS) voice and 3D avatars on consumer trust towards CSRs. TTS voice was implemented to deliver answers aloud. A 3D avatar served as the humanoid representation of a CSR. The results demonstrate that the presence of TTS voice significantly increases consumers’ cognitive and emotional trust toward the CSR. These findings offer practitioners guidelines to improve the interface design of real time human-to-human communications for e-commerce websites. 5. An Empirical Examination of the Effects of Web Personalization at Different Stages of Decision-Making (pp. 95-112) Shuk Ying Ho and Kar Yan Tam Personalization agents are incorporated in many websites to tailor content and interfaces for individual users. But in contrast to the proliferation of personalized web services worldwide, empirical research on the effects of web personalization is scant. How does exposure to personalized offers affect subsequent product consideration and choice outcome? Drawing on literature in human computer interaction (HCI) and user behavior, this research examines the effect of three major elements of web personalization strategies on users’ information processing through different decision-making stages: personalized content quality, feature overlapping among alternatives, and personalized message framing. These elements can be manipulated by a firm in implementing its personalization strategy. A study using a personalized ring-tone download website was conducted. The findings provide empirical evidence of the effects of web personalization. In particular, when users are forming their consideration sets, the agents can play a role in helping users discover new products and/or generate demand for unfamiliar products. Once a decision has been made, however, the personalization agent’s persuasive effects diminish. Our results establish that the role of personalization agents changes at different stages of users’ decision-making process. 6. Beyond Perceptions and Usage: Impact of Nature of IS Use on IS-enabled Productivity (pp. 113-136) Vikas Jain and Shivraj Kanungo Assessing individual performance impacts from information system (IS) use has been a key area of concern for IS researchers for many years. However, past studies have reported mixed results about the relationship between information system use and performance impacts at the individual level. The research reported in this paper has two primary objectives: (1) to propose a model of individual IS-enabled productivity that focuses not only on the usage of information systems but also the nature of this usage, and (2) to empirically test the model across two IS applications. The key premise in this research is that IS use is necessary but not sufficient to observe productivity gains and that nature of IS use potentially mediates the relationship between IS use and IS-enabled productivity. We validate our research model through a survey of 486 individuals across six organizations. Results from this study confirm the proposition that the nature of IS use is as important as the duration of use of an information system as a determinant of IS-enabled productivity. Based on our findings, we provide theoretical and managerial implications of the relationship between IS-enabled productivity and IS use. 7. Role of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) Factors as Moderators of Occupational Stress and Work Exhaustion (pp. 137-154) K.S. Rajeswari and R. N. Anantharaman Software professionals perform boundary-spanning activities and hence need strong interpersonal, technical and organizational knowledge to be professionally competent. They have to perform in a demanding work environment that is characterized by strict deadlines, differing time zones, interdependency in teams, increased interaction with clients and extended work hours. These characteristics lead to occupational stress and work exhaustion. Yet, the impact of stress is felt in different ways by different people even if they perform the same functions. These differences in the perception of stress can be due to varying confidence in their technical capabilities. Individuals possess varying technical capabilities based on their acquisition of technical skills, comfort level in using the technology and intrinsic motivation. These attributes represent the HCI personality of software professionals. It is therefore the focus of this paper to examine, if these HCI factors moderate the relationship between occupational stress and work exhaustion. Data was collected from software professionals located in Chennai and Bangalore in India. Data revealed that HCI factors have main effect on work exhaustion, but does not have moderating effects on work exhaustion. Control over technology variable emerged as the key variable among the HCI factors that affects software professionals’ ability to cope with stress and work exhaustion. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Management Information Systems University of Nebraska-Lincoln 209 College of Business Administration Lincoln, NE 68588-0491 Tel: (402) 472-6060 Fax: (402) 472-5855 Email: [log in to unmask] My Home Page: http://ait.unl.edu/fnah AIS SIGHCI Home Page: http://sigs.aisnet.org/sighci