David K. Farkas HCDE University of Washington
description
Transcript of David K. Farkas HCDE University of Washington
David K. FarkasHCDE
University of Washington
“Scent and Situation Awareness”
What is situation awareness?
• Navigating a website is similar to wayfinding in the physical world
• We use landmarks, we remember our route, we build a mental model
• On the Web we are generally navigating hierarchies
Understanding your location in a hierarchy
Users differ in how fully they utilize situation awareness
• Depends on the individual user
• Depends on a user’s goals and circumstances
• Depends on the website (small vs. large)
• Users may prefer “opportunistic” navigation
For large websites situation awareness is limited
What is “scent”?
• Navigation is similar to the behavior of foraging animals (Pirolli and Card)
• Links (metaphorically speaking) give off a scent that users may choose to follow
• Scents must be distinct
• A strong scent is more apt to attract users
Distinctiveness and strength
Visualizing scent
What “scent” really means
• Scent is a metaphor for confidence
• Scent captures a trade-off that characterizes all user navigation: motivation vs. confidence level plus projected effort
• A distinct scent means the user has confidence regarding ultimate success
• A strong scent means the goal is near—little effort will be required
Take-aways
1. Situation awareness: Navigating a website is akin to wayfaring in the real world
2. Design for situation awareness, but recognize its limitations
3. Scent is a metaphor for the user’s cost- benefit analysis when following links
4. Require distinct scents—links must point clearly to their destinations
5. Try for strong scents but users will follow a weak scent if it is distinct