Qualitative analysis of mediated communication experience

We studied the experiences of participants collaborating in video and teleconference situations. We utilized a qualitative experience measurement methodology where participants freely described their experiences by giving attributes that best described their experience. The most frequent descriptions were combined to attributes which were used to discriminate the experimental conditions. The results indicated that qualitative methodology can discriminate the experience differences between mediated communication technologies. Videoconferencing setting was described as the most natural and exciting, while teleconferencing was described as confusing and frustrating. The results also showed that utilization of face-to-face situation as a comparison condition to mediated communication situations can be problematic, because the meaning of experience attributes changes.