Effects of personality and task strength on performance in computerized tasks

This study examines the effects of embedding human personality characteristics into the computer interface. Eighty university students were taught how to use HyperCard on the Macintosh computer in a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design as follows: personality of the interface (extroverted/introverted), × subjects' personality (extroverted/introverted), × task strength (low and high). The results indicated that subjects do perceive computer software as having personalities similar to those of humans. A significant interaction existed between interface designs (extroverted vs. introverted) and user type (extroverted vs introverted people). Introverted users performed faster with introverted software interfaces than with the extroverted interfaces. There were no differences in the performance time of extroverted subjects between the two interfaces. The study results also indicated that task performance for extroverted and introverted subjects was not different for high task strength tasks but extroverted subjects performed significantly faster on low task strength than did the introverted subjects.