Relation between Experience Categories and Psychological Needs

Knowledge about human behaviour and motivation is essential for designing a positive user experience (UX). Theories of psychological needs have been profoundly researched and well-established in UX research. Experience categories are a rather new practical human-centred design method; they are not based on a psychological model, but instead on an empirical approach. Experience categories describe common positive experiences in a particular context. According to Hassenzahl, positive experiences result from the fulfilment of psychological needs. However, there has been no research on how experience categories and needs are associated. To fill this gap and enrich the knowledge about experience categories, we investigated which needs co-occur with them. In Study 1, we used a more general approach: experience categories of work context were operationalised with scenarios that were rated with a needs questionnaire. In Study 2, we aimed to replicate the findings of Study 1 in a more specific work context by investigating the relationship between experience categories and needs for an existing sample of experiences. Results show a consistent relationship between some experience categories and needs in both studies. Moreover, the need for competence was particularly relevant in the work context. Future studies should expand on this research to further work contexts.