Conversational versus graphical user interfaces: the influence of rational decision style when individuals perform decision-making tasks repeatedly

• Published in: Universal access in the information society Vol. 24; no. 2; pp. 1157 - 1172
• Main Authors: Liu, Xuanhui, Rietz, Tim, Maedche, Alexander
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.06.2025; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aids; Completion time; Computer Communication Networks; Computer Science; Computers and Society; Decision making; Graphical user interface; Information Storage and Retrieval; Information Systems Applications (incl.Internet); IT in Business; Long Paper; Perception; User experience; User interface; User Interfaces and Human Computer Interaction; Conversational user interface; Decision aid; Rational decision style; Graphical user interface; Repeated use of UIs
• ISSN: 1615-5289; 1615-5297
• DOI: 10.1007/s10209-024-01122-1

When performing decision-making tasks, individuals commonly use the user interface (UI) of a decision aid repeatedly. Conversational user interfaces (CUIs) and graphical user interfaces (GUIs) can both be applied for decision aids. Compared with GUIs, CUIs require less learning effort and are able to provide more natural and engaging user experience. However, CUIs cannot replace entire existing GUIs of decision aids because of the characteristics of decision-making tasks and individual rational decision processes. This research investigates the effect of rational decision style when individuals use different UIs of decision aids repeatedly. We conduct a between- and within-subject lab experiment to compare the differences between task completion time and user perception of the UIs, which presents interesting results. CUIs do not always surpass GUIs, which have merits in repeated use and particularly benefit decision-makers having a high rationality score. The results suggest when designing UIs for decision aids, the frequency of use and individual rational decision style need to be considered. This research contributes by analyzing the effect of rational decision style on user perception, and comparing the task completion time when individuals use CUI or GUI to perform decision-making tasks repeatedly.