Towards a Comprehensive View on Technology Transparency: A Cross-Technology Investigation of Psychological and Design Factors Around Users’ Transparency Need and Perception

In the face of increasingly complex technologies, research and industry acknowledge users’ growing need for transparency. Advancing the currently fragmented research landscape, this research aims for a more comprehensive perspective on technology transparency, offering starting points for both transparency research and design. We conducted three focus groups (<i>n</i> = 6, <i>N</i> = 18) with users and experts. Integrating qualitative interview data and theoretical concepts from psychology and human-computer interaction, we developed an initial framework of cross-technology factors and consequences of users’ transparency need and perception. Specifically, factors influencing the perception of and need for transparency include design-related factors, use case-related factors, the seriousness of the technology’s application area, and interindividual differences. Factors concerning the consequences and relevance of transparency comprise usage-related consequences (e.g., level of goal achievement, trust) and meta-aspects of the relevance of transparency (e.g., future viability). We discuss the contributions of our research, limitations, and steps for future research.