Micro-Phenomenology as a Method for Studying User Experience in Human-Computer Interaction

Research Background and Issues

• Identified Problems or Challenges: In the field of HCI (Human-Computer Interaction), research on user experience often focuses on specific user actions (e.g., clicking, typing), while neglecting the subtle feelings, emotions, and subjective experiences during interactions. These subjective experiences are difficult to capture using quantitative methods, and traditional qualitative approaches may fail to provide sufficiently detailed insights.
• Importance of the Issue: Against the backdrop of the experience economy and the third wave of HCI, there is growing attention to deep-level experiences between technology and users, including emotional, temporal-spatial, and bodily perceptions. These experiences are critical for optimizing user interfaces and system designs, yet there is currently a lack of suitable methods to uncover the details of these experiences.
• Research Motivation and Related Work:
  • The authors have noted the potential of Micro-Phenomenology in exploring subjective experiences. While this method has been applied in fields such as neuroscience and art, its application in HCI remains very limited.
  • The aim of this study is to demonstrate, for the first time, how Micro-Phenomenology interviews and systematic analysis methods can be combined to deeply analyze user experience challenges in HCI.

Solution

• Proposed Methods or Solutions:
  • This study introduces Micro-Phenomenology interview methods to capture the micro-level subjective experiences of users during website interactions. Specifically, it involves guiding users to recall and describe the temporal sequence and qualitative characteristics of their experiences in detail.
  • The authors further integrate Micro-Phenomenology analysis methods to systematically process interview data, including diachronic analysis (temporal unfolding) and synchronic analysis (dimensional analysis).
• Innovative Aspects:
  • For the first time, a complete demonstration of Micro-Phenomenology methods in the HCI field, combining interviews and analytical techniques to comprehensively reveal the multidimensional structure of subjective experiences.
  • Application case study of the "WeUsedTo" website, analyzing users' feelings and key moments (experience transition points) during website visits to uncover design issues.
  • Proposed methods for identifying patterns from individual experiences, balancing specific contexts with common features to inform design improvements.
• Implementation Steps:
  1. Conduct Micro-Phenomenology interviews to collect detailed user experience data.
  2. Preprocess interview records, removing scattered data to ensure data reliability.
  3. Gradually perform diachronic and synchronic analyses to generate graphical results at both individual and group levels.
  4. Extract key patterns and design insights from user experiences to support system improvement.

Research Outcomes

• Specific Findings:
  • Identified key turning points in user experiences on the WeUsedTo website (e.g., the immersive feeling of entering the color space, the impact of navigation discovery on users' sense of control).
  • Discovered important patterns in user experiences: "temporal flow" of experiences, shifts in attention and sense of control, and the influence of bodily embedding and spatial perception.
  • Provided visualized analytical structures, revealing mechanisms of experience transitions from positive to negative (e.g., from immersion to a sense of being "overwhelmed").
• Advantages Compared to Existing Solutions:
  • Offers finer-grained data compared to traditional qualitative research methods, especially regarding the temporal dimension and immersion aspects of experiences.
  • Extracts universally meaningful patterns from subjective data while preserving individual characteristics.
  • Highlights the systemic connections between design, bodily perception, and context in HCI, providing new directions for optimizing user experience.
• Experimental or Evaluation Results:
  • The study of the WeUsedTo website demonstrates that bodily embedding, responses to design elements, and navigation ability play critical roles in the positivity of user experiences during interactions with dynamic content.
  • Explored the roles of participant memory and design elements in experiences, preliminarily revealing how navigation functions can mitigate negative experiences.
• Limitations and Future Directions:
  • Limitations:
    • Implementation requires high-level training, and interviews and analyses are time-intensive.
    • Sample size is typically limited due to the fine-grained nature of the method, making large-scale application challenging.
    • Recall depends on participants' ability to reconstruct memories, which may result in loss of detail.
  • Future Directions:
    • Validation of Micro-Phenomenology methods in different digital technology environments, such as virtual reality and augmented reality.
    • Integration with other quantitative or qualitative methods to enhance data verifiability.
    • Exploration of real-time virtual experiments to capture user experiences as a supplement to memory-based limitations.

In summary, this study demonstrates the potential of Micro-Phenomenology in HCI user experience research, providing new tools and perspectives for optimizing digital system design and analyzing user experiences.