Summary: When users don’t clearly understand how systems function, they develop unique (and often incorrect) theories to explain their experiences.
In user research, we often hear people describe how they think technology works. Sometimes, those theories are accurate, but most often, they are not. Through the many user interviews, field studies, and user testing sessions that we’ve conducted for our Life Online study, we’ve heard many technology-related myths. We also observed how these myths impact user behavior and spread from user to user, effectively becoming urban legends .
Myths Are Formed to Avoid the Perceived Risks Associated with Technology
A technology myth is an (often inaccurate) user-generated theory about how a system functions based on personal perceptions or second-hand experiences rather than a factual understanding of the system’s functionality.
It’s human nature to generate explanations for phenomena around us. We form theories about how the world works and why things happen. An explanation, whether true or not, makes us feel in control.