Finding flow: some implications for the utilization of new technologies
Journal Title: Romanian Journal of Human - Computer Interaction - Year 2008, Vol 1, Issue 1
Abstract
As computers and internet are becoming an increasingly prominent presence in our daily life, a stronger need to better understand the behavior of persons using these technologies emerges as well. During the recent years, the psychological concept of flow has been providing the theoretical and methodological framework for several research studies on user experience in web navigation, e-commerce, electronic gaming or e-learning, among others. It was Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi who, back in the 70s, proposed flow as a coined term describing the psychological state experienced by a person fully immersed in an activity that is performed with a maximum efficiency, producing satisfaction, and an overall positive emotional state. Among other benefits of experiencing flow in daily or professional activities, as well as in interacting with new technology, the studies undertaken by now have been repeatedly emphasizing: a better learning efficiency, intensifying the exploratory behavior, positive emotional experience, feeling of control, but also impact on users’ interaction patters, for instance by increasing the number of revisiting of the same website. The phenomena described above will be discussed in this article, with the specific aim to provide an analysis of the main components of flow experience, of the relationships among them, as well as of their potential to inform the design of user interaction with the new technologies.
Authors and Affiliations
Ana Maria Marhan
Keywords
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