With the dissemination and widespread use of AI-enabled work tools by IT professionals, the Flow experience, a well-established theory in psychology has crept into the copywriting of such tools. Therefore, this paper aimed to investigate whether AI-enabled work tools influence the Flow experience of IT professionals as they complete work tasks. To gather in-depth data, an interview study was conducted on 12 professionals consisting of UX and/or UI designers and various technical and managerial roles in the IT field. Following Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis and under an abductive approach, a mix of focused and open codes shaped themes that were then further situated among similar literature. These are presented as theoretical and practical implications. Overall results have indicated that AI-enabled tools mostly do not influence Flow, but that Flow is not entirely absent. Theoretical implications contribute knowledge about the influence of AI-enabled work tools on Flow, some key points discussed include clear goals, exploratory behaviour, broad answers and loops, among others. Practical implications offered design recommendation alongside other published literature, suggesting, for instance, to create effective task context, personalized to workstyle, defining model defaults, and more. Generally, the outcome points to the need for scepticism when faced with unsupported assertions of AI-enabled tools influencing Flow among IT workers, and a need for more published work on the intersection. This is especially prudent given the growing field of AI for the consumer market, where unique opportunities and challenges arise with the usage of AI technologies.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-532349 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Lange, Eve Martina |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för informatik och media |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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