Search Processes in the Exploration of Complex Data under Different Display Conditions

摘要

The study investigated user experience, display complexity, display type (tables versus graphs), and task difficulty as variables affecting the user’s ability to navigate through complex visual data. A total of 64 participants, 39 undergraduate students (novice users) and 25 graduate students (intermediate-level users) participated in the study. The experimental design was 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 mixed design using two between-subject variables (display complexity, user experience) and two within-subject variables (display format, question difficulty). The results indicated that response time was superior for graphs (relative to tables), especially when the questions were difficult. The intermediate users seemed to adopt more extensive search strategies than novices, as revealed by an analysis of the number of changes they made to the display prior to answering questions. It was concluded that designers of data displays should consider the (a) type of display, (b) difficulty of the task, and (c) expertise level of the user to obtain optimal levels of performance.