Studying the service encounter: Addressing the passive user experience in design

Abstract

The computer system is playing an increasingly important role in the face-to-face service encounter with the rapid development of technology and strong growth in services. The design focus of Human-computer interaction is traditionally the user who primarily interacts with the interface of the computer system, but the other users who also get affected by the system are not often addressed in research. This scenario typically occurs in the face-to-face service encounter that includes a computer system, where the customer, as the passive user of the system, relies on frontline employee`s interaction with the system to get information. Essentially, the passive user experience is a part of the overall customer experience, which focuses on the moment of the service encounter. Therefore, understanding the passive user and involving the passive user experience into design practice can lead to more appealing customer experience.

The main objectives of this thesis are to clarify the aspects that influence the passive user experience in Helsinki Central Library Oodi and to give corresponding proposals for designing an appealing passive user experience. The literature review explicates several notions of service and the definition of the passive user. Based on that, the research is conducted with human-centered methods consisting of mapping the passive user journey, the passive user UX curve, and the semi- structured interview.

The reasons behind the dynamic trends of the UX curves and pain points of the passive user are further summarized by data analysis. The study finds the service outcome, system feedback and transparency, waiting, encouragement, customer characteristics, graphical user interface, and physical layout of products are the aspects that influence the passive user experience. Besides, the recommendations of methodology to study the passive user are provided for later research. The findings from the study delineated the characteristics of the passive user experience, and the proposals enable service suppliers to improve their service encounters from a new perspective.