The User Affective Experience Scale: A Measure of Emotions Anticipated in Response to Pop-Up Computer Warnings

ABSTRACT We measured reported User Affective Experience (UAX) anticipated to pop-up warnings that unexpectedly appear during computer use. Such warnings, designed to protect the user, are often ignored, suggesting the influence of nonrational factors. Emotions can both enhance and undermine effective decision-making, but in the decision literature they are typically defined and measured simply in terms of positive and negative valence. We examined discrete emotions anticipated when pop-up warnings appear, including specific positive, negative, individualist, and prosocial emotions based upon affective neuroscience. Forty-five emotions associated with receiving warnings associated with failing to update software, both in relaxed online sessions and sessions involving time and attention pressures, were assessed for underlying measurement structure. Four hundred participants were recruited via Mechanical Turk and reported about specific emotions presented in random order. Exploratory structural equation modeling analyses revealed four reliable latent factors for relaxed (R) and pressured (P) conditions: Positive Affect, Anxiety, Hostility, and Loneliness. P conditions were higher in reported Anxiety, Hostility, and Loneliness and lower in reported Positive Affect. Men reported higher feelings of Hostility and Loneliness; women reported higher Anxiety. Implications are discussed for designing pop-up warnings and also more generally regarding conceptualizing and measuring user experience.