Research on User Behaviors and Tolerance of Faulty Web Interactions

Abstract

Even if we think that all the computer systems that are in operation work perfectly, the background might not be as it seems. We might face some faulty web interactions on a popular website or software as well. User behaviors are vital for developers in creating a satisfying computer system. in the aim of this study was threefold. Firstly, to determine if users' tolerance of different kinds of faulty web interactions changes depending on the environment, and then to find how users' behaviors differ when they encounter a faulty web interaction. Lastly, to detect how faulty web interactions shape users' perceptions. To achieve these aims, we conducted a test on a manipulated mobile e-commerce website with 11 tasks including five faulty ones. Participants were not informed that the test includes faulty tasks. Faulty tasks consist of different kinds of web errors: Not Responding, Blank Page, Connection Timeout (HTTP-500), Not Found (HTTP-404), and Redirect (HTTP-301). The other tasks were organized as dummy tasks, and they were not examined. In the results of this study, we reached quantitative (for the collection of quantitative data, we used a Tolerance Evaluation Scale (TES) that we developed for this study) and qualitative findings. According to the quantitative findings, there is no difference between the tolerance levels of users for different environments. On the other hand, it was determined that when there is an error that includes feedback, user tolerance is affected positively. In addition to this, it can be seen that users have a low tolerance towards giving another chance to any kind of website which has a faulty interaction. In terms of qualitative findings, participants emphasized that it does not matter what purpose a website serves, the errors give an amateur impression by damaging usability and professionalism.