Improving the quality of online presence through interactivity

Online interactivity is becoming a valuable way of improving the communication quality of business web sites. As a result, it is important that web site designers understand the concept and how it affects the quality of web site design. This study empirically validated Ha and James' five interactivity dimensions (playfulness, connectedness, reciprocal communication, information collection, and choice) and their relationship to design quality. The findings suggested that the playfulness, connectedness, and reciprocal communication dimensions are important predictors of web site quality. While information collection tools are powerful for web engineering and user tracking, the companies surveyed here had not fully used the promising potential of such tools. The choice dimension, although it offered flexibility and customizability to users, was not significant in predicting web site quality. The results underscored the viability of interactivity dimensions in the online environment. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.