Adventures in Winter Wonderland - observing user behaviour in a digital twin bookstore

Abstract

Introduction. In casual leisure seeking contexts, visual information plays an important role for exploration or even serendipity affects. However, existing systems rarely support alternative search or browsing strategies. In the case study of this paper, we propose an approach to evaluate the potential and challenges of digital twins as digital replica of physical spaces. Method. A mixed-method approach is applied combining observation data in the physical twin with web analytics in the digital twin. Analysis. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were applied to the data sources and comparisons between user behaviour in the physical and digital place are drawn. Results. We report preliminary results and discuss the opportunities and limitations of current practices to observe digital and physical spaces. The data analyses have given a broad insight into behaviours in the physical twin. However, standard web analytics approaches could not reveal the same insight into online behaviour, showing the limitations of current research practices. Conclusions. The analysis of digital twins requires the combination of offline and online practices. Experiences from the physical observation can inform the analysis of the digital space. It seems to be clear, that the analysis of log data alone is not sufficient but needs to be completed by other user behaviour methods.