Our Masterclasses give you an opportunity to hear from our academic experts on a wide range of hot industry topics, while getting a flavour of our online master’s degrees.
About the masterclass
Despite many efforts, engagement remains one of the biggest challenges in the use of digital products and especially those that are aimed to support mental well-being. While countless apps and interventions promise scalable support, many people abandon them early or bypass them entirely in favour of everyday tools like YouTube or even ChatGPT.
This masterclass explores expectancy as a key to understanding why. Expectancy captures what people believe technology will do for them and how much effort it will take. When those expectations are met, technology feels approachable, meaningful, and easy to integrate into daily life. When they’re not, frustration and dropout follow.
We’ll look closely at two key dimensions of expectancy:
- Effort expectancy — how approachable, intuitive, and low-effort a system feels
- Performance expectancy — the degree to which an individual believes the system will help them to meet their needs
Using examples from the use of digital and AI-based mental well-being technologies, we’ll examine how approachability, trust, and emotional resonance influence engagement, and how subtle design cues can shape these perceptions.
The session concludes with a set of simple design heuristics for creating technologies that align with human expectations, reduce cognitive load, and foster sustained engagement.
Get in touch
If you have any questions regarding this virtual event, please get in touch with us using the contact details provided below:
