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credibility + trust in online gambling user interfaces

context

From March to September 2001, I supervised Bhiru Shelat, a Master's student in Human-Computer Interaction at the Ergonomics & HCI Unit, University College London.
She's now working for System Concepts in London (UK).

objectives

• To analyse the domain of online gambling
• To review existing systems and user interface features
• To identify consumers’ concerns with online gambling
• To develop a method to diagnose online gambling systems’ trustworthiness
• To produce trust-specific design guidelines for online gambling systems

According to a study by Greenfield Online (2000):

• 60% of online gamblers say the sites they visit are fixed
• 31% are not satisfied with online gambling sites
• 15% feel online casinos are more fun than their offline counterpart

With more than 700 online gambling sites generating $1.1 billion in 1999, this industry is expected to reach $3 billion by 2002 (River City Group, 2000). However, only those sites that will win the confidence of users will thrive. Indeed, people have concerns about the security of having an account with an online casino. In addition, one can never be sure whether the odds are fair and the jackpot really pays off. Also, there is no global legal framework regulating online gambling, although 50 countries including Australia have legalised it. What makes gamblers select one site rather than another? How do these sites differ with respect to their user experience, usability and trustworthiness? How can HCI help produce user interfaces that maximise trust-inducing design features?

The design of online user experiences, such as engagement or trust, has become an extremely hot topic in HCI research. Success on the web depends not only on meeting users’ functional requirements and expectations, but also on alleviating their concerns about the trustworthiness of the system and the business behind it. My research has identified a number of factors that affect consumers’ decision to trust an e-commerce vendor. You can find some papers here. The current project will also investigate the applicability of my trust model, developed for B2C e-commerce, to the domain of online gambling.

method

Data was gathered using an online questionnaire:
View the questionnaire

results

The results have been reported in a short paper presented at CHI2002.
View the paper (PDF, 118KB) | Citation details
View a related article on the System Concepts site
E-mail me for a copy of the poster (thumbnail below)