Creepy Technology: What Is It and How Do You Measure It?
This addresses the problem of managing first impressions in Human-Computer Interaction to prevent creepy technology designs, though it is incremental as it builds on existing work on creepiness.
The paper tackled the problem of interactive technologies causing initial unease in users by developing the Perceived Creepiness of Technology Scale (PCTS) to measure creepiness in initial encounters, enabling designers to compare technologies and avoid creepy designs.
Interactive technologies are getting closer to our bodies and permeate the infrastructure of our homes. While such technologies offer many benefits, they can also cause an initial feeling of unease in users. It is important for Human-Computer Interaction to manage first impressions and avoid designing technologies that appear creepy. To that end, we developed the Perceived Creepiness of Technology Scale (PCTS), which measures how creepy a technology appears to a user in an initial encounter with a new artefact. The scale was developed based on past work on creepiness and a set of ten focus groups conducted with users from diverse backgrounds. We followed a structured process of analytically developing and validating the scale. The PCTS is designed to enable designers and researchers to quickly compare interactive technologies and ensure that they do not design technologies that produce initial feelings of creepiness in users.