User comments to video instructions : the effects of Kanmaku on usability, motivation and self-efficacy

Purpose:Kanmaku refers to displaying comments in videos, which gives those helpful messages hidden in comments a better chance to be seen by users. The purpose of this research is to find out kanmaku’s influence on usability, motivation and self-efficacy, compared to traditional comments and no comments. Method: Sixty college students volunteered in this study. Participants were divided into three groups, each operated with video instructions with no comments, traditional comments or kanmaku. They were asked to finish a task, a questionnaire and a retention test. Results:Figure indicates that on effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction, no significant difference were found among three groups. However, on self-efficacy, kanmaku yielded significantly better results. And on motivation in general, traditional comments worked better significantly. Conclusion:This research shows that on self-efficacy, kanmaku has the biggest advantage. Meanwhile, on attention, kanmaku performed the worst. Further studies need to beconducted on kanmaku with more other features.