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Article published In:
Information Design Journal
Vol. 26:3 (2021) ► pp.193–215

End-User License Agreements (EULAs)

Investigating the impact of human-centered design on perceived usability, attitudes, and anticipated behavior

ORCID logo | Bentley University
ORCID logo | Bentley University
| Bentley University
| Bentley University

An online survey (N = 810) examined the impact of design best practices on the perceived usability of End-User License Agreements (EULAs). Redesigning a EULA according to best-practices (without changing the EULA’s terms and conditions) led to higher perceived usability while responses to attitudinal (perceived reasonableness of conditions) and behavioral (anticipated agreement and use) items were unaffected. Readers (who reported reading EULAs frequently) (a) provided more positive evaluations of EULAs and (b) were more likely to anticipate agreeing to EULA terms than non-readers. These results suggest that best practices in document design can improve the usability of End-User License Agreements.

Keywords: End-user License Agreement (EULA), human-centered design (HCD), Legal Design, usability, user-centered design (UCD), User Experience (UX)
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1The importance of EULA design for organizations
    • 1.2The importance of EULA design for consumers
    • 1.3Prior research on EULA design
    • 1.4The present study
  • 2.Methods
    • 2.1Participants
    • 2.2Experimental design
    • 2.3Displays
    • 2.4Procedure
      • 2.4.1Entrance survey
      • 2.4.2Test phase
      • 2.4.3Exit survey
      • 2.4.4Data analysis
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1Entrance survey
    • 3.2Age
    • 3.3Other demographic factors
    • 3.4EULA design
    • 3.5Readers vs. non-readers
  • 4.Discussion
    • 4.1Q1: Applying best practices in human-centered document design can improve the perceived usability of EULAs
    • 4.2Q2: Applying best practices in human-centered document design does not impact attitudes and anticipated behaviors
    • 4.3Brand (unnamed vs. major)
    • 4.4Age
    • 4.5Readers vs. non-readers
    • 4.6Limitations and future directions
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Note
  • References
Published online: 23 May 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/idj.20018.eri
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