Navigation Design with Respect to Cognitive Load Reduction

Research Methodology Presentation

Research Question

Does static navigation reduce a users cognitive load

Hypotheses

H1 = (navigation efficiency) Treatment condition participants perform faster navigation then the original condition participants.

H0 = (navigation efficiency) Treatment condition participants do not perform faster navigation then the treatment condition participants.

H2 = (mental effort) Treatment condition participants show reduced Cognitive Load compared to the treatment condition participants.

H0 = (mental effort) Treatment condition participants do not show reduced Cognitive Load compared to the original condition participants.

Research Methodology

Controlled Experiment Design Participant Groups Questionnaire Experiment Tasks Short Quiz Survey Data Collection Methods

Post-Test Control Group Design

X = exposure of group to dependent variable O = observation of the dependent variable R = random assignment of test participants Dependent variable = navigation

Two levels Static Non static

Online www

Face to face

Experiment Group

R O1 X O2

Control Group R O3 O4

Experiment Design

Controlled Experiment Design Control Group x2 Experiment Group x2 One set of groups will be observed

online experiment to be conducted online

One set of groups will be observed face to face

Experiment to be conducted in a classroom at Coffs Harbour SCU

Website Factors Control

Screen content – text – image – colour – content layout Sex – 50% male – 50% female Computer and internet use frequency – medium to high level Internet connection speed Search bar – will be turned off so users have to follow a

navigational path Post graduate student and university staff

Independent Navigation design – static – non static

Dependent Time – time taken from server and computer log files Information Recall - [ easy > < difficult ]

Treatment Credibility [ easy >< difficult ] Cognitive friction [ not >< very ]

Factor Navigation Mechanism

Level Two levels - static - non static

Participants

Knowledge Workers Post Graduate Students Academic Staff

Online invitations to participate in study on higher education websiteshigher education websites

Email to University Faculty and Post Graduate Departments

Questionnaire

Pre test questionnaire to capture control factors about participants Capture sex, age, internet/computer

use for all participants Capture internet connection speed for

online participants Controlling to reduce variability and

raise power Balanced allocation to account for

effect

Experiment Tasks

Participants are given a sheet with seven tasks – no time limit for tasks

Randomly assigned original condition or treatment condition website

Each online participant is assigned a unique ID, which is used to track the participant’s link clicks

Quiz

Short Quiz after experiment task completion Seven questions about each specific

experiment task Recall information from website to see

if participants were able to retain the information that was found

Usability Survey

10 questions about websites usability

Likert scale questions Capture users perception of

Navigation Usability Navigation Design Website Credibility Navigation Promience Cognitive Friction

Data Collection Methods

User hyperlink clicks (server log files ) Questionnaire (database) Survey (database) Quiz (database) Questions or concerns raised (email or

telephone, notes taken on issues raised, participant remains anonymous unless otherwise stated)

All participant records are stored against an ID number and not personal records

Experiment Timeline

Ethics Application October 2008

Online Experiment Invitations November 2008

Online experiment active December 2008 to April 2009

Face to Face experiment (over 2 weeks) March 2009

Data Collection complete April 2009

Questions or Comments?