A Practical Guide for Human Lab Experiments in Information Systems Research: A Tutorial with Brownie

Purpose - Human lab experiments have become an established method in information systems research forinvestigating user behavior, perception and even neurophysiology. The purpose of this paper is to facilitateexperimental research by providing a practical guide on how to implement and conduct lab experiments inthe freely available experimental platform Brownie.
Design/methodology/approach - Laying the groundwork of the tutorial, the paperfirst provides abrief overview of common design considerations for lab experiments and a generic session framework.Building on the use case of the widely used trust game, the paper then covers the different stages involved inrunning an experimental session and maps the conceptual elements of the study design to the implementationof the experimental software.
Findings - The paper generatesfindings on how computerized lab experiments can be designed andimplemented. Furthermore, it maps out the design considerations an experimenter may take into accountwhen implementing an experiment and organizing it along a session structure (e.g. participant instructions,individual and group interaction, state and trait questionnaires).
Originality/value - The paper reduces barriers for researchers to engage in experiment implementationand replication by providing a step-by-step tutorial for the design and implementation of human labexperiments.