Anthropomorphic vs. Non-anthropomorphic Software Interface Feedback for Online Systems Usage

This paper answers an important question concerning the effectiveness of anthropomorphic user interface feedback. The issue of effectiveness has been unresolved for some time, despite the efforts of various prominent computer scientists. By means of a carefully controlled tractable experiment, significant statistical evidence has been found to suggest that anthropomorphism at the user interface in the context of online systems usage is more effective than a non-anthropomorphic method of feedback. Furthermore, the results can be generalised to most software systems for online systems usage, thus potentially changing the way user interface feedback is designed, developed and thought about. This will lead to the improvement of user interfaces making them more usable, more effective and more accessible to all. Computer systems are being used more and more, where potentially every household and work environment will have a computer in the near future. Hence making systems accessible to all, including ‘non-traditional’ users is becoming increasingly more important. This research is making a contribution to this general aim.