Interface Characteristics, Perceived Ease of Use and Intention to Use an Online Library in Malaysia

Abstract

Many researches have identified that perceived ease of use will lead to the intention to use a particular technology and the intention in return will lead to actual behavior. In the context of this research the interface characteristics are classified as the external variable to the belief-intention relationship. Data was collected from 704 undergraduate and post graduate students of Universiti Sains Malaysia using a structured questionnaire through a convenience sampling technique. The findings of the study indicate that all three interface characteristics, terminology clarity (= 0.571, p< 0.01), screen design (= 0.268, p< 0.01) and navigation clarity (= 0.036, p< 0.05) were positively related perceived ease of use of the online library. Perceived ease of use (= 0.536, p< 0.01) was in turn positively related to intention to use. The R 2 was 0.287, indicating that 28.7 percent of the variations in the intention to use can be explained by perceived ease of use. Implications for developers and the university authorities are considered.