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As you look around our society, computer usage has proliferated all types of organizations, individuals homes, and society overall. Everywhere you look (at least where there is electricity) you will find computers being used. With this proliferation of computer usage, you will also see a proliferation of computer frustration of computer user frustration. All users regardless of education or experience encounter annoying delays in connecting to the Internet, incomprehensible error messages, incompatible file sharing, indecipherable menus, computer crashes, network congestion delays, poorly designed user interfaces, long download times, dropped network connections, and online help documents which most times are not very helpful. Most of these experiences occur while attempting to send or receive email, performing word processing, or during web browsing. These are the most common uses of computers by all individuals. The frustration generated by these problems can be personally disturbing and socially disruptive at the very least. Psychological and social perspectives on frustration clarify the relationships among variables such as personality types, cultural factors, goal attainment, workplace anger, and computer anxiety. These perspectives could help designers, managers, and users understand the range of responses to frustration, which should lead to effective interventions such as redesigning of software, improved training, better online help, user discipline, and even resetting of national priorities. According to Bessiere's study, 108 computer users showed high levels of frustration and loss of 1/3 to 1/2 of time spent per individual (Bessiere et al. Determining para 1). The importance of the computer operators' goals and the severity of the disruption directly correlate with user frustration.
Computer frustration. We have all experienced this problem at one level or another. From the inexperienced user to the highly experienced user, all of us who have used a computer or any other hardware device such as a Personal Digital Organizer (PDA), Internet Capable Cellular Phone or even an automated PBX telephone system (Please press 1 if you speak English, please press 2 if you speak Spanish, ....) have had this experience. No one is exempt from the problem either. "Every human being regardless of race, gender, social class, education, religion, political affiliation, regardless of the hardware being used whether it is a Macintosh (whose advertisements would lead like to lead you to believe that their computer is free of such frustrations), Sun Solaris. IBM PC, Alpha, Amiga, Commodore 64, Digital VAX, Burroghs, UNIVAC, EDVAC, ENIAC, MACHI, Colossus, the Difference Engine to the Abacus" (Computers: History and Development pares 1,2,5,7,9,10). [Maybe going back to the Difference Engine and the Abacus is a little too far, considering the Difference Engine was a steam powered computing machine designed for computing differential equations and the Abacus which is made of wood with a rack of beads utilizing human power. The answer is yes; the Abacus is still being used in some regions of the world today.] Regardless of the operating system used be it Microsoft Windows version "whatever," Microsoft DOS, IBM DOS, IBM OS/2, Macintosh version "whatever," Unix, Linux (and all of it's various spin-offs), Amiga, Virga, VMS (and its various versions) and regardless of the software program being used whether it be Lotus 1-2-3, Microsoft Word, Adobe PhotoShop, Quark Xpress, SAS, Oracle SQL, Netscape Navigator, Chessmaster 3000, or Postal (gaming software) somewhere in time you've had the experience. Whether it was in a hardware installation, in producing an interoffice memo, creating a quarterly financial report, to scripting a kernel for Unix, all levels of computer users at sometime or another have experienced computer frustration. The bottom line is, if you've used a computer in the later half of the 20th century, you've experienced computer frustration.
In the past few years we have heard the terminology on television and in the newspapers about "Road Rage, Sports Rage, Surf Rage, Snowboard Rage," and a host of other various "rages," but never "Computer Rage." We all know if we apply our imaginations that "Computer Rage" does happen, but never formally brought to the forefront on headline news. "Today a man in Frostbite Fall, MN, in a fit of rage assaults 100 PC's in a computer lad with a baseball bat because he could not access his email. Sources say that he was frustrated with the machines because the network system was down." Okay so this may sound a little exaggerated, but I'm sure there's more than one computer on the scrap pile that has met a similar fate. Articles of this nature rarely grace the pages of our newspapers and the reasoning behind this is probably because it's rage towards an inanimate object.
Computers have come along a long way since the 1960's and 70's when memory was extremely precious and very little explanation accompanied an error code. During that time, error messages were cryptic at best and only had meaning to the computer programmer. A computer operator for the most part was completely left out of the thought process as far as creating software programs that the operator could understand without formal education in using the program. For those of us who remember, a software program like WordPerfect 5.1 was an extremely powerful word processing software tool, but was more than just intimidating to a first time user. In WordPerfect, there was no Graphical User Interface, (GUI), per say as there is today. When you turned on the computer and typed the cryptic command in the Microsoft DOS operating system to start WordPerfect, after a few whirrs, bleeps and blops, the WordPerfect interface would come up; a blank screen with a blinking cursor in the upper left hand corner of the page. A formally trained user of this program knew, that the program was ready for the user to begin typing text and that any commands such as cut and paste, save, formatting and other common word processing needs were all performed by using the Shift Key, the Ctrl Key, or the Alt Key and some other key, or one of the F function keys (F1 through F12). The first time user of course would find this interface intimidating because they wouldn't understand what the machine was requiring them to do or why it was just blinking at them.
Even today, with the advent of GUI's, better error code explanations, online help manuals within the software programs, help desks and other various tech support features, computers are still cumbersome and frustrating to use for most human beings. I remember one time I met a woman online in a chat room who was from Australia, who wanted to talk in private, she wanted me to use ICQ, which is a program similar to AOL Instant Messaging, but considerably more powerful, therefore much more difficult to use. The first problem in understanding the ICQ web site to find the hyperlink text to download the free software application. This was back in 1997, and the home page was very difficult to understand. To this day it's still difficult to find what you are looking for.
Once I had my software downloaded to my hard drive, opened the application and received an authentication number from ICQ, the next problem was getting my friend Janine authorized into my ICQ security to allow her to communicate with me. Then I needed to figure out how to open the software interface in order to communicate with her in real time with an instant messaging board. I had a few years of computer experience under my belt at the time, but even with that experience while continuing flashing messages back and forth to each other, it took 2 1/2 hours for me to understand what Janine wanted me to activate on the ICQ interface. Eventually, we figured out for whatever reason, I was only seeing a limited screen in the program. Evidently, that is what comes up by default when you first use the program and by clicking on a few different icons and menus you finally open the full blown program to utilize ICQ's advanced features. I wasn't aware of this because I didn't know what I was looking at and Janine wasn't aware of this because she had been using the program for a long time and had forgotten these complications. Janine didn't remember going through what I was going through when she first downloaded the program, plus Janine had a experienced person looking over her shoulder the first time she opened the program, who could direct her on what to do.
"Frustration occurs when there is an inhibiting condition that interferes with or stops the realization of a goal. All action has a purpose or goal whether explicit or implicit, and any interruption to the completion of an action or task can cause frustration" (Bessiere et al. Social para. 4). As a example, a product manager is in the process of creating a sales report displaying the top 100 selling products of the month. To their dismay, they find the system is particularly slow and that they need to report to a progress review meeting in 15 minutes. This is where user frustration comes in. The end user is frustrated with the computer system because their job is managing sales products and not managing the computer system, which is beyond their control.
Factors that affect the user level of frustration are many. The level of frustration that people experience would be affected by how important the goal was to them, as well as how confident they are in their abilities (Bessiere et al. para. 7). "Because goal-directed behavior involves valued, purposeful action, failure to attain goals may therefore result in highly charged emotional outcomes" (Lincecum 160). including, we believe, frustration. Cultural factors may also play a role in the level of frustration experienced by individuals when coming across obstacles to their path of action. The community and culture in which they are raised constrains the behavior of individuals. In addition, their reactions and acceptable responses to frustrating simulations are constrained as well.
Hochschild (Hochschild 551-575) and Ekman (Ekman 1982) have put forth two concepts associated with the way that emotions are governed by society; feeling rules and display rules. Feeling rules (emotion norms) regulate what kinds of feelings are appropriate and how intense or broad they are, as well as long they can last. Display rules (expression norms) regulate how these internal feelings can be displayed externally in terms of emotional behaviors (Bessiere et al. Social para. 8). "One final factor that may affect the force of the frustration is the severity of the interruption and the degree of interference with the goal attainment" (Dollard 1939). All obstructions are not equally frustrating, the severity and unexpectedness of the block with also factor into the strength of the response. In addition, if individuals perceive that the thwarting was justified by socially acceptable rules, as opposed to being arbitrary, the frustration response may be minimized (Baron 1977). "This may be due to the lowering of expectations because of extra information available to the individual" (Bessiere et al. Social para. 9).
According to frustration theory it is the interruption of a goal or task that causes individuals to become frustrated. Typically, this frustration has a tendency to occur while people attempt to meet their specified deadlines. There are two categories that can then subsequently affect the level of frustration an individual experiences; the incident-specific factors, and individual level factors. (Bessiere et al. Social para. 20).
Looking at Figure 1, we find Incident Specific Factors on the left hand side of the diagram. The factors are caused by specific details of the incident;
These factors are the least predictable of the factors involved.
On the right hand side of Figure 1 are the Individual Factors, which are more predictable than the Incident Specific Factors. The individual Factors are caused by;
According to a study conducted by Bessiere, the severity of the interruption and the importance of the task are two factors when combined, form the greatest influence on a computer user's frustration level. On the other hand, computer self-efficacy has the greatest effect on overall frustration levels. Experience, computer anxiety, and mood also all factor into the person's level of overall frustration, mood, and affect the day as well. Incident level factors correlate more with incident level frustration, and that individual level factors correlate more with the overall outcome variables. The circumstances surrounding the actual frustrating incident have a greater effect on the resulting frustration due to the incident. Other factors such as mood, experience, computer anxiety, or computer self-efficacy have a lesser effect. When examining the overall experience of frustration, and how it affects the mood and day of the person, these variables become very significant to the outcome of the frustrating experience. In addition, incident specific variables lose their importance. A variable such as total time lost, turns out to be insignificant in the overall outcome. It is possible that the incidents cause a fleeting but very strong annoyance, but a person's overall frustration with the events in the session stays more constant. Each incident by itself causes a brief flare-up in frustration, but adds to the users experience and levels of self-efficacy, which in turn affect global frustration levels (Bessiere et al. Understanding para. 40)
For Users: While individual frustrating experiences are annoying and cause a brief flare-up in frustration, it is rather the individual factors that create the greatest concern. Previous experience, attitudes toward the computer, and computer self-efficacy all have an effect on the experience of users with the computer. In order to have the best experience, it appears that a positive attitude towards the computer and development of skills is essential. Users must take an effort to receive training on their computer systems and software, whether at their own cost or at the companies cost. In addition, the type of training received should best match the task needs, e.g., training related to web browsing, an exploratory environment, should receive training using the exploratory model (Lazar and Norcio Training 2003). An increase in knowledge and experience can only serve to enhance the computer attitudes and confidence of the users. Computers are increasingly being used for personal and entertainment-related tasks, rather than workplace-related tasks, which makes the users more responsible for ensuring the success of their tasks (Cummings and Kraut 221-231). While individual frustrations will continue to occur, the increase in experience and computer self-efficacy and the positive tilt in their attitudes towards the computer will minimize the effect of these frustrating experiences as a whole (Bessiere et al. Understanding para 41).
For Software Developers: Software developers must emphasize strategies for reducing the frequency of user frustration. More reliable software, better user interfaces, clearer instructions, and improved tutorials will go a long way to reducing and preventing problems. For instance, test subjects cited error messages as a major source of frustration. Although the problems of poorly-worded error messages are well-established, unfortunately, error messages are still negative, unclear, and do not actually help users respond to errors (Shneiderman 1998; Lazar and Huang 167-182). Some error messages are actually infamous, such as the "fatal exception," also known as the "Microsoft Blue Screen of Death." Such an error message cannot possibly assist users in responding to errors (Bessiere et al. Understanding para 42).
For Managers: First, each frustrating experience will cost the company in minutes and work lost. Second, the aggregate effect on the individual is to lower the mood and increase the likelihood of having a bad day, which can adversely affect work performance as well. Clearly, it is a good idea for business to invest in both the technology and the training of their staff in order to improve productivity (Bessiere et al. Understanding para 43).
For Policy: If previous experience shapes a person's attitude towards the computer, then the development of technological skills is essential to the elimination of user frustration. Purchasing hardware and software simply is not sufficient to enable effective use of computer technology. Policy makers should not pronounce the digital divide "solved" simply because people have access to computers, but rather, should promote programs that provide training to undeserved populations. If frustration is such a large part of the user experience, and if experience and perceived efficacy can help eliminate this frustration, then it is vitally important that the low-income and disadvantaged communities receive as much help in this arena as possible. Unfortunately, support and training have never been a priority for government funding in the United States. The Universal Service Program, sponsored by the U.S. Federal Government (also known as the E-Rate), assists in providing funding to connect schools and libraries to the Internet (U.S. Congress 1996). However, the law specifically excludes expenses for training users (Lazar and Norcio Service-Research 21-25). Many government programs also prohibit the use of funds for training or any non-equipment related expenses (General Accounting Office 1998). Training and exposure are clearly vitally important to the user experience. It is quite possible that new users, who lack knowledge, training, and access to helpdesks, will simply never advance their skills (Bessiere et al. Understanding para 43).
Name: _____________________________________________
Email: _____________________________________________
Class: ______________________________________________
Section I: Demographic Information
Age: _______
Gender: F M
Education:
High School Graduate ______
Fresh./Soph. in College ______
Jr./Sr. in College ______
College Graduate ______
Advanced Degree ______
Employment: (Please choose ONE)
K-12 Student ______
Student – Computer Science ______
Student – Other _______
Executive/Managerial ______
Professional (Doctor/Lawyer/etc) ______
Academic/Educator _______
Computer Technical/Engineering ______
Other Technical/Engineering ______
Service/Customer Support _______
Clerical/Administrative _______
Sales/Marketing ______
Tradesman/Craftsman ______
Homemaker ______
Self-Employed ______
Unemployed, looking for work ______
Retired ______
Other ____________________________________________________________
Section II: Computer Experience and Attitudes
How many years have you been using a desktop or laptop computer for home or work use? ___________
How many hours per week do you use a desktop or laptop computer? _________
What type of Operating System is installed on the computer that you are currently using?
DOS ______
Windows 3.x ______
Windows 95.x ______
Windows 98.x ______
Windows ME ______
Windows 2000 ______
Windows NT.x ______
MacOS 10 ______
MacOS prior to OS 10 ______
Unix/Linux ______
Other ____________________
What type of applications and programs do you typically use? (check all that apply)
Email ______
Chat/Instant Messaging ______
Web Browsing ______
Presentation Tools ______
Other Internet Use ______
Word Processing ______
Spreadsheet Program (Excel) ______
Graphic Design Programs ______
Programming Tools ______
Other (please explain) ___________________________
How many years have you been using the world wide web? __________
How many hours per week do you spend online? ___________
(Please indicate the amount of time that
you are actually using the computer while online, not simply the amount of time you are connected to
the Internet.)
Do you currently ______ have a permanent connection to the Internet OR ______ dial in through a modem.
Where is the computer you are using now?
Home ______
Work ______
Library ______
Computer Lab ______
Other ______
Which of the following do you do when encountering a problem on the computer or application that you are using?
Try to fix it on my own ______
Concult a manual/help tutorial ______
Ask a friend/relative for help ______
Ask a help desk/consultant for help ______
Give up or leave it unsolved ______
Computers make me feel:
Very Uncomfortable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Very Comfortable
When you run into a problem on the computer or an application you are using, do you feel:
Anxious 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Relaxed/Indifferent
When you encounter a problem on the computer or an application you are using, how do you feel about your ability to fix it?
Helpless 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Confident I can fix it
How experienced do you think you are when it comes to using a computer?
Very Inexperienced 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Very Experienced
When there is a problem with a computer that I can't immediately solve, I would stick with it until I have the answer.
Strongly Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Strongly Agree
If a problem is left unresolved on a computer, I would continue to think about it afterward.
Strongly Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Strongly Agree
Right now, how satisfied with your life are you?
Very Unsatisfied 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Very Satisfied
How often do you get upset over things?
Not Very Often 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Very Often
Right now, my mood is:
Very Unhappy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Very Happy
Name: _____________________________________________
Email: _____________________________________________
Class: ______________________________________________
Please choose the number that best corresponds to your feelings.
Right now, my mood is:
Very Unhappy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Very Happy
We asked you to record your frustrating experiences. Overall, how frustrated are you after these experiences?
Not Frustrated at All 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Very Frustrated
How will the frustrations that you experienced affect the rest of your day?
Not at All 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Very Much
Are the incidents that occured while you were recording your experiences typical of your everyday computer experience?
Yes ______
No ______
In general, do you experience more or less frustrating incidents while using a computer on an average day?
Less 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 More
Baron, R. A. Human Aggression. New York, NY, Plenum, 1997.
Bessiere, K., Ceaparu, I., Lazar, J., Robinson, J. and Shneiderman, B. “Determining Causes and Severity of End-User Frustration.” HCIL-2002-11, CS-TR-4371, UMIACS-TR-2002-51, May 2002. ftp://ftp.cs.umd.edu/pub/hcil/Reports-Abstracts-Bibliography/2002-11html/2002-11.html Online. Internet. 10/12/2002
Bessiere, K., Ceaparu, I., Lazar, J., Robinson, J. and Shneiderman, B. “Social and Psychological Influences on Computer User Frustration.” HCIL-2002-19, CS-TR-4410, UMIACS-TR-2002-90, September 2002. ftp://ftp.cs.umd.edu/pub/hcil/Reports-Abstracts-Biblography/2002-19html/2002-19.html Online. Internet. 10/12/2002
Bessiere, K., Ceaparu, I., Lazar, J., Robinson, J. and Shneiderman, B. “Understanding Computer User Frustration: Measuring and Modeling the disruption from Poor Designs.” HCIL-2002-18, CS-TR-4409, UMIACS-TR-2002-89, September 2002. ftp://ftp.cs.umd.edu/pub/hcil/Reports-Abstracts-Bibliography/2002-18html/2002-18.html Online. Internet. 10/12/2002.
Chisholm, W., Vanderheiden, G., Jacobs, I. “Checklist of Checkpoints for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0.” World Trade Consortium, May 1999.
“Computers: History and Development.” Jones Telecommunications & Multimedia Encyclopedia. http://www.digitalcentury.com/encyclo/update/comp_hd.html Online. Internet. 10/30/2002.
Cummings, J., and Kraut, R. “Domesticating Computers and the Internet.” The Information Society. 18(3), (2002), 221-231.
Dollard, J., L. W. Doob, et al. Frustration and Aggression. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1982.
Ekman, P., Ed. Emotion in the Human Face. Cambridge University Press, 1982.
Hochschild, A. R. “Emotion Work, Feeling Rules, and Social Structure.” American Journal of Sociology 85 (1979): 551-575.
Lazar, J. and Huang, Y. Improved Error Messages for Web Browsers: An Exploratory Experiment. In J. Ratner (ed.) Human Factors and Web Development, 2nd Edition, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2003, in press, 167-182.
Lazar, J. and Norcio, A. “Service-Research: Community Partnerships for Research and Training.” Journal of Informatics Education and Research, 2(3), (2001): 21-25.
Lazar, J. and Norcio, A. “Training Novice Users in Developing Strategies for Responding to Errors When Browsing the Web.” International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction. (2003, in press).
“Remarks by Bill Gates,” CHI 2001 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Seattle, Washington (April 2001): http://www.microsoft.com/billgates/speeches/2001/04-02chi.asp Online. Internet. 10/12/2003.
Shneiderman, B. Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human/Computer Interaction. Reading, MA, Addison-Wesley, 1998.
United States Congress. Telecommunications Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-104). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1996.
United States General Accounting Office. School Technology: Five school districts’ experiences in funding technology programs (GAO/HEHS-98-35). Washington, D.C.: United States General Accounting Office, 1998.
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