Signposts on the digital highway: The effect of semantic and pragmatic hyperlink previews

In this article, the effect of a local, content (as opposed to structure) oriented navigation tool is investigated, i.e. mouse-over hyperlink previews. A usability experiment is described in which three groups of participants were exposed to three different versions of a website: without hyperlink previews, with content oriented, semantic previews, and with task-oriented, pragmatic previews. Participants were asked to execute search and recall tasks, and to evaluate task and hypertext. The results showed a decisive overall advantage for previews in terms of efficiency, but no effects on effectiveness or appreciation. Although semantic and pragmatic previews did not differ significantly, a post hoc analysis showed a learning effect of pragmatic previews that was absent in the semantic preview condition. It was concluded that previews fit in with the step-by-step goal orientation of hypertext users. Once users are acquainted with them, pragmatic previews speed up decision making.Apart from the experimental part, the article surveys research into the usability of navigation tools, thereby focusing on the analysis of navigation tools. The bottom line of this review is that most navigation tools as they are used in the experiments provide users with different types of information, e.g. local vs. global, content vs. structure oriented. This complicates the unequivocal explanation of their effect and may explain, together with user and task differences, the variety and inconsistencies observed in the results.     

Evaluating the Usability of the Glasgow Online Hypertext

Although there are many hypertext systems currently on the market there is little advice available on how authors can create easy-to-use hypertexts. This paper addresses the usability of Glasgow Online — a hypertext which contains tourist information on the city of Glasgow. The issues raised in the paper are based on an observational study in which a number of readers performed tasks representative of those undertaken by tourists visiting Glasgow. The usability issues raised by Glasgow Online are discussed in a wider context and their applicability to other styles of hypertext is considered.     

Security practitioners in context: Their activities and interactions with other stakeholders within organizations

This study investigates the context of interactions of information technology (IT) security practitioners, based on a qualitative analysis of 30 interviews and participatory observation. We identify nine different activities that require interactions between security practitioners and other stakeholders, and describe in detail two of these activities that may serve as useful references for security-tool usability scenarios. We propose a model of the factors contributing to the complexity of interactions between security practitioners and other stakeholders, and discuss how this complexity is a potential source of security issues that increase the risk level within organizations. Our analysis also reveals that the tools used by our participants to perform their security tasks provide insufficient support for the complex, collaborative interactions that their duties involve. We offer several recommendations for addressing this complexity and improving IT security tools.     

Sleuthing in HyperHolmes : aTM an evaluation of using hypertext vs. a book to answer questions

Although hypertext offers exciting new ways of presenting and accessing information, there is little research which systematically compares the usability of hypertext against traditional media with an eye to improving the design of the hypertext. This paper presents the results of an experiment which examined the performance and navigation strategies of users engaged in a question-answering task using either a hypertext encyclopedia of Sherlock Holmes facts (the HyperHolmessy^TMstem) or the traditional paper form. The results showed that, overall, the hypertext users were marginally more accurate in answering questions, and excelled at questions where the key information was embedded in a text entry. The book users were marginally faster overall, but excelled only in answering questions based on graphics. Hypertext users showed a preference for those tools which most closely mimicked use of a conventional book. They used a hierarchical structure to guide their navigation strategy in early trials, but soon learned to navigate in a non-hierarchical, flat way.     

Integration of Usability Evaluation Studies via a Novel Meta-Analytic Approach: What are Significant Attributes for Effective Evaluation?

The overall discovery rates, which are the ratios of sum of unique usability problems detected by all experiment participants against the number of usability problems existed in the evaluated systems, were investigated to find significant factors of usability evaluation through a meta-analytic approach with the n-corrected effect sizes newly defined in this study. Since many studies of usability evaluation have been conducted under specific contexts showing some mixed findings, usability practitioners need holistic and more generalized conclusions. Due to the limited applicability of the traditional meta-analysis to usability evaluation studies, a new meta-analytic approach was established and applied to 38 experiments that reported overall discovery rates of usability problems as a criterion measure. Through the meta-analytic approach with the n-corrected effect sizes, we successfully combined 38 experiments and found evaluator's expertise, report type, and interaction between usability evaluation method and time constraint as significant factors. We suggest that in order to increase overall discovery rates of usability problems, (a) free-style written reports are better than structured written reports; (b) when heuristic evaluation or cognitive walkthrough is used, the usability evaluation experiments should be conducted without time constraint, but when think-aloud is used, time constraint is not an important experimental condition; (c) usability practitioners do not need to be concerned about unit of evaluation, fidelity of evaluated systems, and task type; and (d) HCI experts are better than novice users or evaluators. Our conclusions can guide usability practitioners when determining evaluation contexts, and the meta-analytic approach of this study provides an alternative way to combine the empirical results of usability evaluation besides the traditional meta-analysis.     

Investigating the usability of assistive user interfaces

A prototype e-mail system was developed for cognitively disabled users, with four different interfaces (free format, idea prompt, form fill and menu driven). The interfaces differed in the level of support provided for the user and complexity of facilities for composing e-mail messages. Usability evaluation demonstrated that no one interface was superior because of individual differences in usability problems, although the majority of users preferred interfaces which did not restrict their freedom of expression (free format). In contrast to traditional evaluation studies, no common pattern of usability errors emerged, demonstrating the need for customisation of interfaces for individual cognitively disabled users. A framework for customising user interfaces to individual users is proposed, and usability principles derived from the study are expressed as claims following the task artefact cycle.     

Navigational tools for desktop virtual environment interfaces

Desktop systems typically rely on a two-dimensional (2D) software interface and general purpose hardware (mouse, keyboard) for interaction with a three-dimensional (3D) virtual environment. These interfaces must provide all the functionality required to navigate through and interact with the virtual environment, yet research into the usability aspects of the tools presented on these software interfaces indicates that the majority of users experience some degree of frustration when using them to perform even relatively simple tasks. This paper begins with a study of usability issues for interfaces to virtual environments on desktop systems, and details a series of experiments performed to evaluate the usability of a number of navigational tools. Participants were tested on the time taken to complete a number of navigational tasks with a series of interfaces presenting different navigational tools. The tools presented were a speed control function, a you-are-here (YAH) map, a function enabling the user to mark and teleport to any location within the presented environment, and an undo function. Results indicate that the visual presentation of navigational aids improves navigation performance, in terms of the time taken to complete tasks, and also improves user satisfaction with the desktop system.     

Problems in Hyperland? A Human Factors Perspective

While the potential of hypertext as an information presentation medium is undeniable, its acceptance by users will be determined largely by its usability. The present paper highlights four issues of relevance: reading from screens as opposed to reading from paper; reader behaviour, particularly how and why different texts are read; interface design variables such as display size and manipulation facilities; and user navigation. Existing research is reviewed and implications for the design of hypertext systems are discussed. Suggestions for future work are presented.     

Tools to incorporate some psychological and organizational issues during the development of computer-based systems

The organization, findings and outcomes of a joint industrial/academic project are described. The principal goal of the project was to develop and test some tools through which people involved in system development can incorporate explicit consideration of certain key psychological and organizational issues. Five tools developed for this purpose are outlined. These are concerned with the design of work organization, job design, the allocation of tasks between humans and computers, usability and task analysis. The use of the tools is described in a ‘live’ system development project in a large company. The authors briefly review the extent to which these tools meet a set of pre-specified requirements, compare their approach with those of Mumford (1986) and Lim et al. (1992), and make explicit what claims they are making of these tools.     

The influence of user expertise and phone complexity on performance, ease of use and learnability of different mobile phones

The study focuses on usability, ease of use and learnability of three different mobile phones (Nokia 3210, Siemens C35i, Motorola P7389). The first independent variable refers to the complexity of the menu (depth/breadth of the menu tree) and navigation keys (number/functionality). The Nokia phone had the lowest and the Motorola the highest complexity, with the Siemens phone ranging between them. The second independent variable was user expertise: 30 novices and 30 experts solved six telephone tasks. In order to assess effects of learnability, tasks were presented twice. Differences between the mobile phones regarding effectiveness, efficiency and learnability were found: The best performance was shown by Nokia users. The remaining two phones did not differ significantly, although the most complex phone was superior to the phone of medium complexity which had the lowest performance. Moreover, an effect of expertise was confirmed, though suboptimal interfaces were identified as lessening the advantage of expertise. Specific weaknesses of the tested phones are discussed.     

A qualitative study of smartwatch usage and its usability

This study aims to explore usability issues of watch‐type wearable devices and to suggest guidelines for improved operation of smartwatches. To do so, we conducted a series of surveys, interviews, and task performance experiments. Thirty smartwatch users from ages 20 to 43 years were recruited. Users’ experiences of smartwatches were collected via a weeklong, online‐based diary study, which consisted of various tasks to be completed while smartwatches were in use. Our study assessed usability problems associated with those tasks, concurrent tasks conducted while interacting with smartwatches, pain points/discomfort that users had while interacting with their devices, and requirements/requests of the smartwatch users. During the week of tracking, participants were asked to complete the usability evaluation three times a day using usability principles we designed for the study: information display, control, learnability, interoperability, and preference. In addition, task performance tests were conducted for the tasks most frequently conducted on touch‐based displays: number entry, swiping, and scrolling. Specific usability issues of smartwatches were identified and summarized for each usability principle by triangulating survey, interview, and task performance evaluation results. Based on the insights from the results of the study, we conclude by suggesting guidelines for further enhancing users’ experience of future smartwatches.     

Using hypertext for college course information

A hypertext browsing system was compared with a linearly based command-line system for accessing information concerning college transfer courses. Usability engineering guidelines were used in ascertaining student expectations and in designing the hypertext system. A prototype was tested against a linearly based command-line system. Performance in completing two tasks was significantly faster using the hypertext system. User perceptions of the hypertext system were more favorable than those of the linearly based system. These results are discussed relative to other studies which have not found a preference for hypertext systems. Differences in the type of task used as well as the need for incorporating usability engineering guidelines are emphasized.     

Interacting with hypertext: an experimental investigation of navigation tools

The functionality that comes from hypertext has been an important driver in the growth of electronic commerce. The appropriate use of navigation tools and design of Web sites remains, however, an open research question. The objective of this study was to compare the impact of alternative navigation tools on users’ productivity differences in the retrieving of information. The selected navigation tools are: hierarchical design both with and without page hyperlinks, sequential both with and without page hyperlinks and a search engine. A laboratory experiment tested the effect of these navigation tools. A total of 430 subjects were randomly assigned to work with one of the five navigation tools. The productivity outcomes of the subjects were measured in terms of performance on the information retrieval task, search efficiency, and the self-perception of productivity. The task was an information search of medium complexity. An analysis of the results identifies navigation tools to be a contributing factor to users’ productivity.     

The influence of user expertise and phone complexity on performance,ease of use and learnability of different mobile phones

The study focuses on usability, ease of use and learnability of three different mobile phones (Nokia 3210, Siemens C35i, Motorola P7389). The first independent variable refers to the complexity of the menu (depth/breadth of the menu tree) and navigation keys (number/functionality). The Nokia phone had the lowest and the Motorola the highest complexity, with the Siemens phone ranging between them. The second independent variable was user expertise: 30 novices and 30 experts solved six telephone tasks. In order to assess effects of learnability, tasks were presented twice. Differences between the mobile phones regarding effectiveness, efficiency and learnability were found: The best performance was shown by Nokia users. The remaining two phones did not differ significantly, although the most complex phone was superior to the phone of medium complexity which had the lowest performance. Moreover, an effect of expertise was confirmed, though suboptimal interfaces were identified as lessening the advantage of expertise. Specific weaknesses of the tested phones are discussed.     

The influence of mobile phone location and screen orientation on driving safety and the usability of car-sharing software in-car use

One of the important parts of the Internet economy is the car-sharing economy. Nevertheless, a few numbers of studies have been dedicated to the issues of safety of driving and usability resulting from the car-sharing software application. The current study aims at analyzing the effect of phone location and screen orientation on usability and safety of driving in Chinese drivers who use car-sharing software (e.g., UBER) and comparing the differences in the safety of driving and usability among various car-sharing tasks. To this end, 24 experienced Chinese Uber drivers were employed using a driving simulator, and three tasks of car-sharing software were investigated. The variables of driving safety and usability were analyzed by Repeat Measurement ANOVA as well as Two-way ANOVA. It was found that when the phone is located on the left side of the steering wheel, usability and driving safety were better compared to locating it on the right side. The orientation of the mobile phone screen had a major impact on usability, while its impact on driving safety was trivial. The left-portrait mode showed the best performance. No significant impact on usability was found in terms of tasks (T1: ordering; T2: route checking; T3: destination search), while tasks showed a significant effect on driving safety. Among these tasks, the T3 task showed the highest impact on driving safety. The T2 task was in the second rank, followed by the T1 task (T1 < T2 < T3). The findings obtained from Chinese participants were different from the findings obtained in Japan and the United States.Relevance to industryThis finding can be used as a basis for the optimization design of ca-sharing software and as a foundation for improving the safety and usability of car-sharing software used by drivers in the car.     

A survey on the usability and practical applications of Graphical Security Models

This paper presents and discusses the current state of Graphical Security Models (GrSM), in terms of four GrSM phases: (i) generation, (ii) representation, (iii) evaluation, and (iv) modification. Although many studies focused on improving the usability, efficiency, and functionality of GrSMs (e.g., by using various model types and evaluation techniques), the networked system is evolving with many hosts and frequently changing topologies (e.g., Cloud, SDN, IoT etc.). To investigate the usability of GrSMs, this survey summarizes the characteristics of past research studies in terms of their development and computational complexity analysis, and specify their applications in terms of security metrics, availability of tools and their applicable domains. We also discuss the practical issues of modeling security, differences of GrSMs and their usability for future networks that are large and dynamic.     

Using job-shop scheduling tasks for evaluating collocated collaboration

Researchers have begun to explore tools that allow multiple users to collaborate across multiple devices in collocated environments. These tools often allow users to simultaneously place and interact with information on shared displays. Unfortunately, there is a lack of experimental tasks to evaluate the effectiveness of these tools for information coordination in such scenarios. In this article, we introduce job-shop scheduling as a task that could be used to evaluate systems and interactions within computer-supported collaboration environments. We describe properties that make the task useful, as well as evaluation measures that may be used. We also present two experiments as case studies to illustrate the breadth of scenarios in which this task may be applied. The first experiment shows the differences when users interact with different communicative gesturing schemes, while the second demonstrates the benefits of shared visual information on large displays. We close by discussing the general applicability of the tasks.     

Task-based method for creating usable hypertext

Although large hypertext documentation systems have many benefits in the commercial world, they can be difficult to build and use. To help overcome both these obstacles, a method under development at Hewlett-Packard assists authors in creating usable hypertext. A Wizard of Oz experiment was done with traditional on-line documentation and hypertext documentation to see what users liked and disliked. The experiment showed the need for a set of hypertext construction rules to ensure usability. Following these rules, and with computer assistance, authors are expected to do a task analysis of users' activities, to identify critical objects and create content nodes for them, to create links between nodes within clearly defined and cognitively justified limits, and to conduct usability tests on the resulting hypertext volume. Whilst this method recognises the importance of good clear writing, the rules and suggested prectices are not primarily about writing or screen design, but about creating a coherent navigational web that ensures success among commercial users of hypertext. The authoring system described in this paper has been developed for the HP Help system, which has been adopted as the common help delivery system for developers of Common Open Systems Environments on Unix-like platforms.     

Impacts of navigation structure,task complexity,and users’ domain knowledge on Web site usability—an empirical study

It is essential for designers of Web sites to understand what navigation structure results in better usability for knowledge acquisition tasks of varying complexity and the Web site users with different level of domain knowledge. Literature shows that multiple factors may exert influence on Web site usability. Navigation structure, task complexity, and user domain knowledge level are among of those factors. Hypotheses are developed about the usability of alternative navigation structures, with different task complexity and user domain knowledge level. Experiments are designed and conducted to test these hypotheses in terms of user performance (accuracy, speed) in accomplishing sets of simple and comparatively complex knowledge acquisition tasks. User perceptions of usability are also measured. Two rounds of experimentation are performed, one with participants who have been trained in the domain of production and operations management, the other with participants who have not been trained in this domain. The results show that a usage-oriented hierarchy or a combined hierarchy are navigation structures associated with statistically significantly higher performance usability than a subject-oriented hierarchy, for both simple and relatively complex knowledge acquisition task sets. A statistically significant effect of domain knowledge on the perception aspect of usability is identified. The study contributes to enhancing the comprehension of researchers, practitioners, and educators about design and usability of Web site navigation structures.     

An evaluation of different navigational tools in using hypertext

Hypertext is a widely used form of information presentation which has gained wide popularity in the last few years due to the ease with which information can be portrayed and accessed. However, the very flexibility of hypertext creates problems of user disorientation and cognitive overhead. Designers in the past have tried to combat these problems by providing users with a myriad of navigational tools, with the most widely employed tools being a map and an index. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of the above mentioned navigational tools in alleviating the problems associated with using a hypertext system. For the purpose of this study, a hypertext package was developed using Hypercard on “Ancient Civilizations.” The experiment explored three variables: types of navigational tool available to the user (Map, Index and Combination of map and index); hypertext size (Small stack, Large stack) and trials (Before, After). The results of the study indicate significant differences in the use and effect of the navigational tools.