| I tested the effect of implicit theory and usability level on participant feedback in user experience research. Previous research examining the influence of personality on how people receive and use feedback and suggests personality influences behaviors related to feedback in user experience research. However, there is little research examining how personality influences the feedback people provide. In user experience research participants are selected to represent the user population on various demographic characteristics. This study examined if implicit theories, which demonstrated clear differences in behaviors and can be manipulated, affects the feedback participants provide in user experience research. The study included 65 participants (50% women; 66.2% White, 9.2% African-American, 15.4% Hispanic, 16.9% Asian/Pacific Islander, 1.5% Native American, and 7.4 % Other) who were randomly assigned to usability condition (high- or low-) and implicit theory (entity or incremental) and asked to evaluate a website. Participants were cued to their assigned implicit theory, their interactions with the website were timed, audio-recorded and evaluated for defensive feedback, and their written feedback was evaluated for relevance and quantity. I hypothesized in the high-usability condition incremental and entity theorists would provide similar feedback, whereas in the low-usability condition incremental theorists would want to develop the website and spend more time, provide more written feedback, provide less defensive feedback, and provide more relevant feedback than entity theorists. Consistent with the first hypotheses incremental and entity theorists spent similar quantities of time, provided similar quantities of feedback, and relevant feedback in the high-usability condition. However, entity theorists provided more defensive feedback (MInc = 1.21, M Ent = 2.27, F(1, 32) = 4.53, p = .04). In the low-usability condition, contrary to the hypothesis, entity theorists provided more relevant feedback (MInc = 2.00, MEnt = 3.47, F(1, 29) = 4.79, p = .004), potentially because entity theorists were more critical than incremental theorists. It also has implications for enhancing user experience research by furthering the understanding of what influences feedback participants provide, potentially guiding participant selection, product design, and research procedures. Additionally, these findings expand on implicit theory research by demonstrating situations where holding an entity theory is preferable. |
