Targeting IMPACT: A New Psychological Model of User Experience.

User experience (UX) models present, in broad terms, the domains of influence affecting users' experience of a given technology. Since the number of variables that could affect a user's experience are manifold and context specific, UX models tend to specify broad categories of influence. Prominent models highlight technology form, content, context, business goals and individual differences as key domains which all affect how a user will experience a technology product or service. These high-level conceptualisations often miss identification of key psychological variables affecting UX. Identifying psychological factors could support user-centred design by designing for user goals, critiquing why different design choices are effective and for guiding evaluation choices. To address this gap, this paper presents a new psychological model of UX, The IMPACT model, meaning Interesting, Meaningful, Personalised, Affective, Collective and Transportive dimensions of experience. The model was developed by reconceptualising an evaluation framework of technology impact and undertaking a literature review. In this paper, we apply the model to a user journey of gameplay, demonstrating the model's use for assessing which strategies build interest, enjoyment and engagement throughout the user journey. Whilst it is not a fully comprehensive psychological model of UX, we suggest hypotheses to empirically test the model for different user types. We offer these next steps as a framework to support gaining new knowledge about gamers and gaming.