Design and evaluation of web-based dynamic hypertexts
Abstract
The objective of this research is to establish the feasibility of dynamic linking as a viable complement to traditional static links in very large hypertexts. An experimental prototype was developed, in order to investigate the effects of dynamic linking on (1) users and (2) user performance and interaction styles during hypertext information exploration. This prototype executed queries in the background to identify appropriate targets for dynamic links. Two experiments were conducted. The first experiment evaluated user performance, with either static or dynamic links, in terms of task time, decision time, reading time and accuracy. The second experiment studied how user performance and behaviour were affected by the visibility and modifiability of interaction feedback. This thesis also examines the effects of dynamism on mental workload, as measured by a specially modified (hypertext) version of the Subjective Mental Workload Assessment Technique (HSWAT). Finally, the thesis considers implications for the overall relationship between information retrieval and hypertext approaches to information exploration. The results indicated that dynamic hypertext can improve performance in question answering, particularly for domain novices or those with little computer expertise. The dynamic interface reduced workload differences between experts and novices. Link transparency had only a weak effect in improving performance in Experiment 2.
Authors: Mark Chignell, Jim C. Tam