Prospective Memory, User Experience (UX), and Online Product Configurators

n recent years, the emergence of the mass customization paradigm has led to the development of online configurators as tools to increase the involvement of possible clients in the productive process. The study here presented involved 50 users which interacted with an online configurator for interior design products. Participants were also administered two tests aimed at measuring their prospective memory abilities. When they completed the interaction with the configurator, they were asked to provide ratings of aspects such as their level of satisfaction with the configurator and their willingness to buy the product they created. The results show that prospective memory is relevant in allowing the successful completion of the configuration task. Moreover, the willingness to buy the product is related to the ability to remember events in the distant future, while the degree of satisfaction with the interaction experience is related to the ability to remember what is going to happen in the near future.