Understanding the most influential user experiences in successful and unsuccessful technology adoptions

• We studied most influential user experiences (UX) in successful and unsuccessful technology adoptions.
• Emotions were highly involved in the reported user experiences.
• Overall UX valence was affected by usefulness, need fulfillment, and negative emotions in successful adoptions.
• Overall UX valence was affected by usefulness, output quality, and negative emotions in unsuccessful adoptions.
• UX concepts can complement traditional approaches to gain a broader insight in technology adoption studies.

Understanding processes underlying technology adoption or non-adoption is an important research theme often addressed using the technology acceptance model (TAM) approach. The objective of this research was to investigate most influential user experiences in successful and unsuccessful technology adoptions using user experience related concepts and methods in conjunction with the TAM. Participants (N = 76) described their most influential user experiences related to one successful and one unsuccessful technology adoption process and evaluated both experiences using rating scales, including the central TAM related scales and user experience related scales probing emotions, psychological needs, user values, task load, and the impact of technology on the user’s well-being.The results suggested that user experience and technology acceptance related viewpoints can complement each other in order to gain a more holistic understanding of the factors affecting the success or failure of technology adoptions, and the results showed how these variables typically behave in both contexts. The overall valence of user experience was significantly affected by perceived usefulness, the fulfillment of psychological needs, and the salience of negative emotions in the most influential user experiences of successful adoptions, and by perceived usefulness, output quality, and the salience of negative emotions in the unsuccessful adoptions.