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Decoding Nonverbal Online Actions: How They Are Used and Interpreted

In: Design Thinking Research

Author

Listed:
  • So Yeon Park

    (Stanford Center for Design Research, Stanford University)

  • Mark E. Whiting

    (University of Pennsylvania)

  • Michael Shanks

    (Stanford Center for Design Research, Stanford University)

Abstract

Nonverbal actions form an integral part of the interactive experience between users on online platforms. While convenient, these nonverbal online actions, which often take the form of clicking a button to like or share content with others, sacrifice contextual information compared with their in-person and verbal counterparts as they are simplified into an icon or content featured in one’s feed. We show that the simplicity of online nonverbal actions and their indicators may come at a cost to users. Through two surveys, we found that there was no single dominant reason for each nonverbal action; rather, users were varied in what they felt were the reasons for taking particular online actions. Users also felt more positive about some reasons than others, and how one felt about a nonverbal action was found to correlate with their affect for the reason thought to be behind that action. Finally, we found that not being aware of why an action was taken could lead to negative effect for an action. Unexplained nonverbal actions in online platforms evoke more negative affect than those same actions when their reason is known. Our findings suggest that surfacing rationales behind nonverbal actions could be one way to mitigate the unintended uncertainty and misunderstandings inherent in how indicators of nonverbal online actions are currently designed. We present this implication amongst others to consider in designing social platforms for user-user interactions online.

Suggested Citation

  • So Yeon Park & Mark E. Whiting & Michael Shanks, 2021. "Decoding Nonverbal Online Actions: How They Are Used and Interpreted," Understanding Innovation, in: Christoph Meinel & Larry Leifer (ed.), Design Thinking Research, pages 61-88, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:undchp:978-3-030-76324-4_5
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-76324-4_5
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