factor”. In other words, based on the expert interviews, perceived newness or even trendiness has value to the users, and thus influences the users’ perceived usefulness of technology.
6.2.2 Platform
The importance of the platform where technology is implemented emerged as an important influencer when talking about PEU, as interviewees suggested that users of technology would perceive the new technology easier to use if it would be implemented and enabled for use on platforms that they already use. This suggestion is aligned with what came up in regard to PU, where embeddedness was considered influential. Concerning PU, technology being embedded to familiar platforms and processes was considered increasing the
perceived usefulness of the technology, while in regard to PEU, technology actually being available on existing platforms or apps stood out as an important enabler of ease of use of a technology.
One of the interviewees, Morten, described the importance of the chosen platform by describing the Last Statement T-shirt project which in contrast to the Digital Collection was fully implemented on Instagram: “...that was born out of the thing that we needed to make it come closer to the consumer and actually use the opportunities which are already in the consumers’ pockets. And that's why we needed to bring it into the platform of Instagram.
(...) we knew we had to get into the platform of Instagram because that's where fashion is, and we needed to kind of like use the tool which is already available in there. (...) it's in people's pockets already.”
6.2.3 Training
Another factor that was mentioned directly and indirectly by the interviewees was training in regard to the use of new technology. The interviewees suggested that in the studied context, training or educating users to use technology is not a necessity, and thus does not influence the PEU of technology. The interviewees were asked questions regarding training users to use technology in the context of the Digital Collection, social media and fashion technology in general. The responses concerning training were aligned with the ones concerning the first factor of platform. As the used platform where technology is
implemented plays a big role, and is preferably a familiar one, the need for training is not requested and needed from the users. In other words, the interviewees highlighted that instead of training users or educating them on using a technology, the technology in
question should rather just be implemented into a familiar platform and would hence not require further explanation.
The FashTech expert, Josefine, explained: “(…) I have experienced, when I’ve talked to people myself, not everyone is thinking about these things, meaning, the implementation of technology in fashion. It is not something that they think about, that we suddenly started purchasing all our clothes online or that we only purchase via Instagram, and stuff like that.
It’s a type of development that users don’t refer to as being technology, because it has slowly been implemented in our daily life.” She further elaborated on users and consumers not necessarily noticing changes, such as new features on platforms, instead they adapt to the technology such as new filters and product tags on Instagram. In other words, changes and new technology often goes unnoticed from the users, and hence without explicit training.
However, despite training and educating users on the use of new technology not being important in regard to PEU, what was mentioned by one of the interviewees was that showcasing a new technology might have an impact on PEU. The comment was made in regard to the Digital Collection and concerned the technology expert Morten explaining the idea of the Digital Collection to his client company Carlings for the first time. As Morten explained in the interview, the client had not understood the very “futuristic” idea of the Digital Collection and was not keen on the idea. However, Morten was convinced about his idea, and in order to make his client understand the idea, he demonstrated the concept to the client, as he self-explained: “I just invited them into what they didn't know was a workshop where I just like fleshed out the whole insight, and like the whole thinking behind it. And, and I think we were only like halfway through the meeting before he, the CEO, kind of like said okay, let's do it.” This suggests that, if a technology is far from the existing and familiar, and too “futuristic”, demonstrating or showcasing the technology in use might have influence in the PEU of the technology, and thus influence the acceptance of it.
6.2.4 Technology Suitability
Related to the last point in the previous section about training, in regard to the showcasing or demonstrating new technology, the third factor that came up from the interviews was the importance of the right match between the level of technology and the target user group. Especially in the studied context of fashion, technology has not played a central role among consumers. In other words, the consumers and businesses in fashion are not familiar with a lot of technology, as the current use of technology is more or less limited to web shops, Instagram and production related technology. The mismatch between technology and the user target group was highlighted in all of the interviews when interviewees were asked about the Digital Collection. All interviewees, even the tech expert behind the idea of the Digital Collection, expressed their opinion about the Digital Collection being a “too futuristic” idea to be introduced to fashion and fashion consumers. The idea and the
production of digital clothing was seen as way too advanced and even “sci-fi” for the fashion industry, but at the same time, the user journey of it was too outdated - consumers having to take a picture, send it, then wait to receive the same picture back. As the FashTech expert Josefine described the idea of digital clothing: “For me, it is completely sci-fi. (...) people get impressed, but they think wow, that gets too futuristic. So therefore, they might distance themselves in the beginning.”
Another example of the importance of technology suitability was given by Morten, who described another project that he was working on - a technology that would help children learn. In order to teach children in primary school about history, the creative agency was working on a solution that would combine games and learning by using the idea of Minecraft (game) and historic events, such as the Fall of the Berlin Wall.
One important factor that came up in regard to technology suitability was also the special nature of the fashion industry as a context. As fashion is considered very personal, and as will be discussed later on, has an emotional side to it, technology implemented into the fashion industry must take these factors into account. This point was brought up by the FashTech expert Josefine, who described the needs of women as fashion consumers:
“FashTech is met by women, who are struggling putting in data about their body. Companies
have tried to implement FashTech ideas for women to utilize for the past couple of years, but unfortunately without any luck as they are meeting difficulties gathering communities around the concepts and users to participate in the idea of using FashTech to shop for better fitted clothes and the right labels.“ This said, any technology implemented into the fashion industry needs to be suitable for the user target group not only in technologically speaking, but also taking into account the nature of the fashion industry and consumers.
6.2.5 User Journey
The final factor that was identified from the interviews and what stood out both individually but also in regard to the previously mentioned factors, as an umbrella concept, as an
influencing factor of PEU was the user journey. User journey in this context refers to the process a user goes through when using a technology. The topic of user journey was brought up first and foremost in the context of the Digital Collection. Three out of four expert interviewees agreed upon the user journey of the Digital Collection being outdated, complicated and not straight forward.
Rasmus, the social media expert, said concerning the user journey of the Digital Collection that users most likely would not use it, since “(..) taking that picture, sending it and choosing that it's a lot of effort”. Also, the fashion designer Kim Felecia, expressed her thoughts about the Digital Collection by saying: “(...) you choose one of these 10 things (...) and you send it, your picture of yourself or something, and then one in Asia somewhere is sitting and
manipulating with all these things together and make a picture for you that you can post on Instagram. And I don't know how many days it takes (...) with like choosing, sending,
paying.” This highlights the number of different steps that the users of the Digital Collection had to take in order to use the digital clothing.
However, an opposing opinion was expressed by the creator of the collection, Morten, when asked about user feedback on the user journey of the Digital Collection: “There was no, basic feedback on the user journey because like people are so trained to shop online now so like, it was the same checkout flow as on a regular website where you purchase
something.” He further described the user journey and the use of the Digital Collection by
saying: “It was really easy to use. It was really intuitive, if you know how to shop online you know how to get it. (...) it was pretty easy.”
Based on these remarks, the user journey of the Digital Collection was not perceived as easy to use, as it included many steps and was not considered straight forward and fast enough, in addition to which it was also seen as outdated. These statements highlight not only the importance of the user journey as an influencer of PEU, but also the importance of the previously mentioned speed, platform and technology suitability as parts of the user journey. Also, in regard to user journey, interviewees suggested towards the importance of again, the suitability of technology and users. This said, the user journey needs to be in line with the industry and user target.
Furthermore, an interesting observation from the interviews was the difference in the perceived ease of use and functionality of the user journey of the Digital Collection between Morten, the creator of the collection, and the rest of the expert interviewees. As mentioned in the interviewee comments above, the creator of the collection persisted on the user journey’s ease, while the other expert disagreed.
6.2.6 Analysis of PEU and Found Factors
When the interviewees were asked questions related to PEU of technology, five factors came across as being influential. As opposed to the factors related to PU, the ones having an impact on PEU appeared to be more practical in the sense that they were more specific in their nature. The first factor, speed, was mentioned both in the context of the need for processes enabled by technology to happen fast, but also in terms of the lack of patience of technology users. According to the interviewees, users need speed in technology in order to consider it easy to use. Speed in regard to enabling users to process content at a fast pace to consume as much content as possible in an effortless way. As users are exposed to more content on social media, the pace must furthermore be fast for them to not easily get bored about the content. The second factor, platform, is related to the place in which new
technology should be implemented. The interviewees mentioned that users consider technology, such as filters on Instagram, easy to use, since the technology exists on the
platform where they want to use them, but also a platform that is familiar to them. Thirdly, the interviewees touched upon the topic of training, and more specifically the lack of need of it. Training was namely not seen as an important factor concerning the PEU of
technology, as interviewees highlighted that the users of technology, especially in the context of fashion and social media do not require or demand training or education when it comes to new technology, such as new filters or other new features. Instead, the
interviewees suggested that users tend to adapt to new technology by themselves, and without any specific instructions. However, one the interviewees mentioned showcasing and demonstrating as a way to introduce new technology to users to increase the PEU of the technology. Related to training, and users understanding the technology, the fourth factor that stood out was the technology suitability. This factor was expressed as influential to PEU of technology by the interviewees, as all of the interviewees agreed upon the Digital Collection as being too futuristic for its target group. Also, technology suitability was
brought up in other contexts as well, one interviewee discussing a technology designed for children’s learning - how technology designed for children would include “gaming” in order to fit the user target. Furthermore, one interviewee mentioned an important point in regard to technology suitability in terms of taking the nature of the fashion industry, but also its audience into account. By this, the interviewee highlighted the significance of the emotional aspect of the industry and its implications also on technology to be implemented and used in fashion. Finally, the umbrella term of user journey stood out as influential in regard to the PEU of technology, closely related to the previously mentioned speed, platform and
technology suitability. The general concept user journey was mentioned in the context of the Digital Collection, as three out of four interviewees found it complicated and outdated, while the creator perceived it as intuitive, simple and well-working. Meaning, that based on the expert interviews, all the above needs to come together for the users when accepting a new technology and they will be influential in the process of implementing new technology.