The evolving role of expectations in long-term user experience

Pre-use expectations are believed to influence user experience evaluations. The goal of this study is to understand the role of expectations and emotions in the evaluation of a product -- a mobile phone -- over a five-month period of use in a real-life setting. The results show that expected enjoyment has long-lasting effects on product evaluations and on behavioral intentions, e.g., recommending the product to friends. High enjoyment expectations boosted enjoyment during the first days of use, but the effect of expectations changed over time depending on initial level of expected enjoyment and whether expectations were exceeded, confirmed or disconfirmed. The results suggest that subjective evaluations after short-term usability testing may not reliably predict future satisfaction, and it is critical to measure expectations as a benchmark for interpreting the meaning of subjective evaluations. Furthermore, longer use trials are required to estimate future product success, as users need several days of usage experience in order to evaluate whether their expectations are confirmed.