Impact of Verbal Report Protocol Analysis on a Model of Human-Computer InterfaceCognitive Processing

摘要

This exploratory study used the 'think-aloud' protocol to demonstrate theeffectiveness of Kieras and Polson's Goals, Operators, Methods and Selection Rules and the Cognitive Complexity Model. An experiment comparing the cognitive processes of users on two file management interfaces, a Command Language and Direct Manipulation interface, was conducted. The think-aloud process was chosen as the methodology for conducting this experiment because of its insights into the user's perceptions of both the task and device representations. The experimental results provide implications for the study of cognitive processes--the nature of the interface design influences the users' mental models of a system, which has a direct affect on the users' performance on a given interface. This methodology also provides an evaluation technique which may improve the design process of the user interfaces. Finally, the results support the think-aloud protocol as an effective evaluation tool of user interface designs.