Optimal experience of Web activities

This paper reports on Web users' optimal ̄ow experiences (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975b) in the Web environment. The concept of ̄ow was employed to see if there were some positive aspects of Web experiences that could be linked to theory applied to other media and then incorporated into Web design to enhance its utility to users. The notions of the Web as a `multi-activity medium' and a view of the Web as a `situated experience' are proposed and veri®ed in this study in order to demonstrate evidence of ̄ow phenomena in the Web environment. Further, in order to overcome methodological hurdles inherent in previous studies, this study employed content analytic procedures to analyze open-ended questionnaires to directly elicit 304 Web users' perceived ̄ow experiences on the Web. Results of this study provide baseline data on the existence of the ̄ow phenomenon in the Web environment, such as factors and conditions associated with the ̄ow experience, causes of Web users' perceived challenges and controls, and Web users' ̄ow feelings and enjoyments. This study also establishes the groundwork for building a situational measuring instrument which may be used to identify Web users' ̄ow experience for further exploration. We conclude that the concept of ̄ow is a fruitful area for research that aims at improving Web design practice. The data suggest that additional research under more rigorous methodological conditions can further specify the factors and conditions associated with ̄ow experiences on the Web. # 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.