Remarkable achievement by a Tech3Lab research team
March 5, 2025
A team from HEC Montréal’s Tech3Lab won the Best Paper Award in human-computer interaction (HCI) at the Association for Information Systems’ main annual event for the HCI research community.
The award-winning publication is entitled Investigating Interaction Friction in Generative AI: Improving the Human Interaction Experience and Decision-Making and is based on research as part of a project conducted by Pauline Malaguti, a Master of Science (MSc) student in Data Science and Business Analytics. She completed her Master’s thesis under the supervision of Tech3Lab’s user experience (UX) faculty members.
The winning paper was co-authored by four other lab members and two scientists from its industrial partner ServiceNow:
- Alexander J. Karran
- Di Le and Hayley Mortin (ServiceNow)
- Constantinos K. Coursaris
- Sylvain Sénécal
- Pierre-Majorique Léger
Constantinos K. Coursaris (center), co-director of Tech3Lab and co-author of the winning paper, with two HCI Program Chairs.
The study examines the effects of introducing interaction friction during Human-AI interactions (HAIIs) to enhance human perceptions and decision-making. Using a Generative AI Assistant (GENAIA), the team investigated the effects of Non-Friction AI (chatbot) versus Friction AI (chatbot plus summary or form).
Results showed that systems with AI reduced cognitive load and were perceived as more useful and trustworthy by users. Adding friction to chatbots did not have a significant effect on perceived usefulness, cognitive load, or task performance. Furthermore, adding moderate levels of friction had a considerable positive effect on the user’s sense of agency and perceived usefulness of the GENAIA.
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