Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Exploring ‘Generation Y’ interaction qualities at home and at work

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Cognition, Technology & Work Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Information technology support of office work has increased rapidly in functionality, but new ways of interacting have evolved more slowly. This paper adds to the design research community’s notion of interaction quality by exploring these new ways of interacting and comparing them in the home and work contexts. We describe and analyze two interview studies conducted with office workers to consider how they perceive, experience and compare interaction qualities. Six interaction qualities (instant, expressive, playful, collaborative, responsive and flexible) were identified that together embody an interaction style that we have labeled ‘Generation Y.’ From learning and comparing these qualities, we found that personal and natural type of interactions were mostly experienced in the more private home context. Formal and subtle type of interactions were mostly experienced in the more public work context. We also found that the office workers scored the interaction qualities in their home context as richer than in their work context. This study resulted in a set of design guidelines, aiming to be used to implement the Generation Y interaction style in future office tools and applications. Designers and researchers will benefit from the result of this study from understanding rich interaction design in the work context.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Accenture (2008) Millennial are at the gates. High performance IT research

  • Arvola M (2010) Interaction design qualities: theory and practice. In: Proceedings of the 6th Nordic conference on human-computer interaction: extending boundaries, pp 595–598

  • Bannon L (2011) Reimagining HCI: toward a more human-centered perspective. Interactions 18(4):50–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bassett B (2008) Working with generation Y. Office Pro 68(2):16–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Blain A (2008) The millennial tidal wave: five elements that will change the workplace of tomorrow. J Qual Assur Inst 22(2):11–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Borchers J (2001) A pattern approach to interaction design, 1st edn. Wiley, Chichester

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlson E (2008) The lucky few: between the greatest generation and the baby boom. Springer, New York, p 29

    Google Scholar 

  • Cole G, Smith R, Lucas L (2002) The debut of generation Y in the American workforce. J Bus Adm Online 1(2):5–6

    Google Scholar 

  • Cruz CS (2007) Gen Y: how boomer babies are changing the workplace. Hawaii Bus 52(11):38

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Djajadiningrat T, Wensveen S, Frens J, Overbeeke K (2004) Tangible products: redressing the balance between appearance and action. Pers Ubiquitous Comput 8:294–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Erickson TJ (2008) Plugged in: the generation Y guide to thriving at work. Harvard Press, Boston, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Felix S (2007) A flexible workplace. Benefits Can 31(6):16–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Frens JW (2006) Designing for rich interaction: integrating form, interaction and function. PhD dissertation. Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands

  • Hult L (2003) Public information services: a study of use qualities in Internet-based encyclopedias. PhD dissertation, Linköping University, Sweden

  • Jones PH, Chisalita C, Veer GCVD (eds) (2005) Cognition, technology, and work: special issue on collaboration in context: cognitive and organizational artefacts. Cogn Technol Work 7:2

  • Keller AI (2005) For inspiration only: designer interaction with informal collections of visual material. Doctoral dissertation. Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

  • Koskinen I, Zimmerman J, Binder T, Redström J, Wensveen S (2011) Design research through practice, 1st edn. Morgan Kaufmann, Los Altos, CA

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumar R (2005) Research methodology: a step-by-step guide for beginners, 2nd edn. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • Likert R (1932) A technique for the measurement of attitudes. Arch Psychol 140:1–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu W, Stappers PJ, Pasman G, Taal-Fokker J (2011) Supporting generation Y interactions: challenges for office work. In: Proceedings of the ACM 2011 conference on computer supported cooperative work (CSCW)

  • Ljungblad S, Kotrbova J, Jacobsson M, Cramer H, Niechwiadowicz K (2012) Hospital robot at work: something alien or an intelligent colleague? In: Proceedings of the ACM 2012 conference on Computer supported cooperative work (CSCW)

  • Lloyd J (2007) The truth about gen Y. Mark Mag 112(19):12–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Locher PJ, Overbeeke C, Wensveen S (2010) Aesthetic interaction: a framework. Des Issues 26(2):70–79

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Löwgren J (2006) Articulating the use qualities of digital designs. Aesthetic computing, pp 383–403. Retrieved October 01, 2011, from aesthetic computing database

  • Macleod A (2008) Generation Y: unlocking the talent of young managers. Chartered Management Institute, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers B, Hudson SE, Pausch R (2000) Past, present, and future of user interface software tools. ACM Trans Computer-Hum Interact 7(1):3–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Oblinger DG, Oblinger JL (2005) Educating the net generation. EDUCAUSE

  • O’Neill J, Castellani S, Roulland F, Hairon N, Juliano C, Dai L (2011) From ethnographic study to mixed reality: a remote collaborative troubleshooting system. In: Proceedings of the ACM 2011 conference on computer supported cooperative work (CSCW)

  • Øritsland TA, Buur J (2003) Interaction styles: an aesthetic sense of direction in interface design. Int J Human-Comput Interact 15(1):67–85

    Google Scholar 

  • Oxygen Report (2010) Generation Y and the workplace annual report 2010. Johnson controls

  • Pasman G (2003) Designing with precedents. PhD dissertation. Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

  • Paton M (2002) Qualitative research and evaluation methods, 3rd edn. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • Preece J, Roger Y, Sharp H (2007) Interaction design: beyond human-computer interaction, 2nd edn. Wiley, New York, pp 181–217

    Google Scholar 

  • Prensky M (2001) Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5):2–3

  • Rasmussen MK, Lehoux N, Ocnarescu I, Krogh PG (2012) I’ll knock you when I’m ready…: reflecting on media richness beyond bandwidth and imitation. In: Proceedings of the ACM 2012 designing interactive systems conference, pp 106–115

  • Report Litmus (2006) Decoding the digital Millennials. Resource Interactive, Columbus, OH

    Google Scholar 

  • Rittenbruch M, McEwan G (2009) An historical reflection of awareness in collaboration. In: Markopoulos P, de Ruyter B, Mackay WE (eds) Awareness systems. Advances in theory, methodology and design. Springer, London, pp 3–48

  • Ross PR (2008) Ethics and aesthetics in intelligent product and system design. PhD dissertation. Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands

  • Ross PR, Wensveen S (2010) Designing aesthetics of behavior in interaction: using aesthetic experience as a mechanism for design. Int J Des 4(2):3–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Ross PR, Overbeeke C, Wensveen S, Hummels CCM (2009) Exploring ethics and aesthetics in interactive product design: a workshop. In: Proceedings of the 4th international conference on designing pleasurable products and interfaces, pp 65–76

  • Rullo A (2008) The soft qualities of interaction. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction 15(4):1

    Google Scholar 

  • Sleeswijk Visser F, Stappers PJ, van der Lugt R, Sanders EB-N (2005) Contextmapping: experiences from practice. Codesign 1(2):119–149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spiro C (2006) Generation Y in the workplace. Defense AT&L

  • Stappers PJ (2012) Teaching principles of qualitative analysis to industrial design engineers. In: Proceedings of the international conference on engineering and product design education

  • Strong R, Gaver B (1996) Feather, scent and shaker: supporting simple intimacy. In: Proceedings of the ACM 1996 conference on Computer supported cooperative work (CSCW)

  • Tapscott D (1998) Growing up digital: the rise of the net generation. McGraw-Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor SJ, Bogdan R (1998) Introduction to qualitative research methods, 3rd edn. John Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Temkin B (2007) The Gen Y design guide: crafting experiences to meet the unique needs of younger consumers. Forrester Research, Inc

  • Turner P, Turner S (2012) Emotional and aesthetic attachment to digital artefacts. Cogn Technol Work. doi:10.1007/s10111-012-0231-x

    Google Scholar 

  • Visser T, Vastenburg MH, Keyson DV (2011) Designing to support social connectedness: the case of SnowGlobe. Int J Des 5(3):129–142

    Google Scholar 

  • Vyas D, van der Veer G, Nijholt A (2012) Creative practices in the design studio culture: collaboration and communication. Cogn Technol Work. doi:10.1007/s10111-012-0232-9

    Google Scholar 

  • Wensveen S (2005) A tangibility approach to affective interaction. PhD dissertation. Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands

  • Woods D (1998) Designs are hypotheses about how artifacts shape cognition and collaboration. Ergonomics 41:168–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xerox PARC (2012) Retrieved August 1, 2012, from http://www.parc.com/about

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all the participants who have taken their time to provide us with an insight in their ways of interacting in their home and work activities. This research was supported by Exact, and this research was funded within the Creative Industry Scientific Programme (CRISP). CRISP is supported by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ID-StudioLab, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands

    Wei Liu, Gert Pasman & Pieter Jan Stappers

  2. Cloud Solutions, Exact, Delft, The Netherlands

    Jenneke Taal-Fokker

Authors
  1. Wei Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gert Pasman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jenneke Taal-Fokker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Pieter Jan Stappers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wei Liu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Liu, W., Pasman, G., Taal-Fokker, J. et al. Exploring ‘Generation Y’ interaction qualities at home and at work. Cogn Tech Work 16, 405–415 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-013-0269-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-013-0269-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation