Beyond Self-Report: A Neurocognitive Approach to UX Evaluation of Greek Municipal Websites

Abstract

Despite growing investment in e-government infrastructure, the adoption of local municipal digital services remains limited, raising questions about how user experience (UX) is currently evaluated. Traditional approaches, based on expert audits and self-reported measures, capture primarily the conscious and observable layers of interaction, overlooking the underlying cognitive and emotional processes that shape actual user behavior. This study introduces a multimodal, neuroscience-informed framework for UX evaluation and presents, on a pilot basis, an exploratory application of the Neurocognitive Engagement (NCE) Index to three Greek municipal websites representing bad, medium, and good UX quality. A pilot experiment (N=10) was conducted combining electroencephalography (EEG), a Post-Session Recognition Memory Task (PSRMT), eye-tracking behavioral data, and self-reported measures. Findings indicate that while self-reports differentiated UX Conditions, the NCE Index revealed near-identical engagement between medium and good UX (5.20 vs. 5.07), despite substantial differences in audit scores. These preliminary findings suggest that conventional UX evaluation methods may not fully capture the underlying neurocognitive processes associated with user interaction, highlighting the potential value of integrating neuroscience-informed measures into existing UX evaluation frameworks. The study presents exploratory results as a proof-of-concept for a novel methodological framework. Future research with larger, gender-balanced samples is needed to validate and extend these preliminary findings. The study carries practical implications for the evidence-based allocation of public digitalization budgets and the adoption of neurocognitive methods in applied public-sector UX evaluation.