System usage behavior as a proxy for user satisfaction: an empirical investigation

Organizations are increasingly recognizing that user satisfaction with information systems is one of the most important determinants of the success of those systems. However, current satisfaction measures involve an intrusion into the users' worlds, and are frequently deemed to be too cumbersome to be justified financially and practically. This paper describes a methodology designed to solve this contemporary problem. Based on theory which suggests that behavioral observations can be used to measure satisfaction, system usage statistics from an information system were captured around the clock for 6 months to determine users' satisfaction with the system. A traditional satisfaction evaluation instrument, a validated survey, was applied in parallel, to verify that the analysis of the behavioral data yielded similar results. The final results were analyzed statistically to demonstrate that behavioral analysis is a viable alternative to the survey in satisfaction measurement. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.