Title: Technophobia and user interface usability

Authors: Mohanad Halaweh; Lorna Uden; Ahmed Mostafa Kamel; Moataz Elbahi

Addresses: Al Ain University, Al Ain, UAE ' Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, UK ' University of Fujairah, Fujairah, UAE ' Ahram Canadian University, 4th Industrial Area, 6th of October City, Giza, Egypt

Abstract: This paper aims to explore the relationship between the usability of interfaces and the experience of technophobia. This study hypothesises that an unusable interface will influence user feelings of technophobia. Three hypotheses were formulated by utilising three heuristic categories for evaluating the usability of interfaces, namely system support, navigation and user interface design. A questionnaire was designed to test the hypothesis. The empirical findings revealed that navigation has significant effect on users' feelings of technophobia. This study suggests that applying usability heuristics and design guidelines, particularly with respect to navigation forms and styles, can potentially help to reduce the symptoms of technophobia, thus increasing the acceptance of the system. The implications of this research for theory, practice, and future work are also discussed.

Keywords: usability; navigation; user interface; technophobia; human-computer interaction.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWET.2023.132873

International Journal of Web Engineering and Technology, 2023 Vol.18 No.2, pp.149 - 164

Received: 01 Jan 2023
Accepted: 20 Mar 2023
Published online: 13 Aug 2023 *

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