FACTORS RELATED TO USER SATISFACTION WITH A COMPUTER-BASED CAREER INFORMATION SYSTEM

The purpose of this study was to evaluate user satisfaction with the computer-based career information system, Virginia VIEW. The users were classified by each of six personal characteristics, and the significance of the relationship between each characteristic and the overall satisfaction rating was determined. The personal characteristics were: career decision-making readiness, educational level, age, employment status, gender, and income. The sample consisted of 149 persons who chose to use Virginia VIEW at one of six sites in Northern Virginia during the spring and summer of 1983. A wide variety of personal characteristics was obtained in the sample. The sample, on a whole, was satisfied with the use of the system, felt that it was a good use of their time and that they learned something from the experience. The results of the study showed that for the sample studied, age had no significant relationship to satisfaction with the use of Virginia VIEW. On the other hand, all of the other personal characteristics studied did show significant (p < .05) relationships to satisfaction with the use of Virginia VIEW. Women were significantly more satisfied with the experience than men. Persons who were unemployed were significantly more satisfied with the experience than those who indicated current employment. As educational level increased, satisfaction with the system significantly decreased. Persons who indicated they had seen a counselor in the last year about career exploration, had taken a course to help them with career exploration, had other career counseling experiences, or planned to see a counselor to discuss this experience further were considered, for the purposes of this study, to be in a state of career decision-making readiness. These persons were significantly more satisfied with the use of the system than those persons who were not so classified. Unemployed persons with lower educational and income levels were significantly more satisfied with the use of the system than employed persons with higher education and income levels. The results indicated that the computer-based career information system, Virginia VIEW, was a satisfactory way to present career information to the persons examined in this study.