Agency in Human-Smart Device Relationships: An Exploratory Study

With technology in reach of everyone and the technology sector in ascendance, it is central to investigate the relationship people have with their devices. We use the concept of agency to capture aspects of user’s sense of mastery and control in relation to their device. This study gives preliminary evidence of the existence of two dimensions of agency for modelling the interaction between humans and smart devices: (i) user agency and (ii) device agency. These constructs emerged from an exploratory factorial analysis conducted on a survey data collected from 587 participants. Mapping the users’ dynamics with their devices into user agency and device agency advances our understanding of how digital technology shapes human cognition and emotion and how users interact with technology. This approach can assist in designing interfaces that match the beliefs users have regarding their capabilities and the capacities of their devices.