A Self-Efficacy Instrument Designed to Explore Haptic User Experience Design and Development Practice: Engineering Self-Efficacy for UXD

TY - GEN

T1 - A Self-Efficacy Instrument Designed to Explore Haptic User Experience Design and Development Practice

T2 - CHITALY 2025: 16th Biannual Conference of the Italian SIGCHI Chapter

AU - Aldhous, Joanna

AU - Sobolewska, Emilia

AU - Webster, Gemma

N1 - Conference code: 16th

PY - 2025/10/14

Y1 - 2025/10/14

N2 - This study examines the capabilities, knowledge, and attitudes of hapticians (engineers, researchers, and designers) regarding the evaluation of haptic user experience (UX) within the design and development process. Mixed-methods approach using a novel self-efficacy questionnaire and semi-structured interviews uncovered common challenges encountered by engineers in practice when evaluating the UX of people using haptics. Findings reveal a disconnect between the acknowledged importance of involving end users and the extent to which this is prioritized in practice. Evaluation activities often focus on utilitarian aspects (e.g., accuracy, comfort, satisfaction) over experiential ones (e.g., immersion, flow, cybersickness). Additionally, the lack of standard terminology is problematic; expert users are more adept at describing the experiential aspects of haptic interactions than novices, so they are recruited more frequently, resulting in inconsistencies in user engagement. The self-efficacy scales presented provide good reliability and offer a valuable evaluation tool for engineering in identifying training and development needs for UX design. However, further validation is required. Overall, the study underscores the need for more comprehensive and standardized resources, guidelines, and tools to support haptic UX design more effectively in practice.

AB - This study examines the capabilities, knowledge, and attitudes of hapticians (engineers, researchers, and designers) regarding the evaluation of haptic user experience (UX) within the design and development process. Mixed-methods approach using a novel self-efficacy questionnaire and semi-structured interviews uncovered common challenges encountered by engineers in practice when evaluating the UX of people using haptics. Findings reveal a disconnect between the acknowledged importance of involving end users and the extent to which this is prioritized in practice. Evaluation activities often focus on utilitarian aspects (e.g., accuracy, comfort, satisfaction) over experiential ones (e.g., immersion, flow, cybersickness). Additionally, the lack of standard terminology is problematic; expert users are more adept at describing the experiential aspects of haptic interactions than novices, so they are recruited more frequently, resulting in inconsistencies in user engagement. The self-efficacy scales presented provide good reliability and offer a valuable evaluation tool for engineering in identifying training and development needs for UX design. However, further validation is required. Overall, the study underscores the need for more comprehensive and standardized resources, guidelines, and tools to support haptic UX design more effectively in practice.

KW - UX evaluation

KW - UXD

KW - design

KW - engineering

KW - self-efficacy

KW - user experience

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105022199812

U2 - 10.1145/3750069.3750153

DO - 10.1145/3750069.3750153

M3 - Conference contribution

SP - 1

EP - 11

BT - CHItaly '25

PB - Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)

CY - New York

Y2 - 6 October 2025 through 10 October 2025

ER -