Influence of UX Factors on User Behavior: The Critical Incident Technique

Jessica Kollmorgen, Jessica Kollmorgen, Yaprak Turhan, María J. Escalona, Jörg Thomaschewski

2025

Abstract

Measuring user experience (UX) is essential for strengthening user loyalty and product success. Usage frequency plays a central role, as it both can influence and be influenced by UX. Standard measurement methods like questionnaires can assess UX factors and calculate their impact on usage frequency. Alongside UX factors, socio-demographic data like gender are also collected in practice, as they can affect usage patterns depending on the product. However, the question remains whether additional holistic UX factors exist that are not yet captured in standard UX questionnaires. Understanding these could improve UX and raise long-term usage. To investigate the possibility of new factors, we applied the Critical Incident Technique (CIT), a method from psychology, to UX research. Using Netflix as an example, we employed CIT in a questionnaire to capture very positive/negative (“critical”) user experiences and conducted 12 interviews to assess the incidents’ influence on usage frequency. The study found that beyond the known UX factors, additional holistic factors such as Nostalgia and Anticipation were identified. These newly identified factors were also shown to impact usage frequency. Overall, CIT proves to be a promising method for capturing holistic UX factors, providing a foundation for future research into the context of use.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Kollmorgen J., Turhan Y., Escalona M. and Thomaschewski J. (2025). Influence of UX Factors on User Behavior: The Critical Incident Technique. In Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies - Volume 1: WEBIST; ISBN 978-989-758-772-6, SciTePress, pages 121-132. DOI: 10.5220/0013669600003985

in Bibtex Style

@conference{webist25,
author={Jessica Kollmorgen and Yaprak Turhan and María Escalona and Jörg Thomaschewski},
title={Influence of UX Factors on User Behavior: The Critical Incident Technique},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies - Volume 1: WEBIST},
year={2025},
pages={121-132},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0013669600003985},
isbn={978-989-758-772-6},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies - Volume 1: WEBIST
TI - Influence of UX Factors on User Behavior: The Critical Incident Technique
SN - 978-989-758-772-6
AU - Kollmorgen J.
AU - Turhan Y.
AU - Escalona M.
AU - Thomaschewski J.
PY - 2025
SP - 121
EP - 132
DO - 10.5220/0013669600003985
PB - SciTePress