A two-dimensional framework is proposed as a basis for assessing users' self-report responses to website designs. This incorporates two features that have been consistently identified in the psychology and design literatures: (a) a processing sequence and (b) a distinction between cognition and affect. Suggested advantages include increased clarity with regard to the identification of self-report constructs, stronger links to relevant literature, and improved “actionability” of designs. To examine this framework empirically, a study was conducted for which participants were required to imagine selecting a psychology university degree program and to provide a series of ratings of the designs of five department websites. The proposed framework enabled the identification of distinct and interpretable patterns of users' responses. In this regard, a number of consistencies with recent conceptualizations of user experience were noted. Implications and limitations of the proposed approach were considered.

Abstract Two studies are reported that examined the reliability of human assessments of document similarity and the association between human ratings and the results of n‐gram automatic text analysis (ATA). Human interassessor reliability (IAR) was moderate to poor. However, correlations between average human ratings and n‐gram solutions were strong. The average correlation between ATA and individual human solutions was greater than IAR. N‐gram length influenced the strength of association, but optimum string length depended on the nature of the text (technical vs. nontechnical). We conclude that the methodology applied in previous studies may have led to overoptimistic views on human reliability, but that an optimal n‐gram solution can provide a good approximation of the average human assessment of document similarity, a result that has important implications for future development of document visualization systems.

This paper reports a study of information search in a three-dimensional virtual information space. A comparison was made of performance with and without head tracking, as provided by a virtual reality headset. Twenty-five percent of participants in a head tracking condition experienced feelings of nausea, and efficiency of navigation was poorer in this condition than in a comparison condition in which participants viewed the virtual environment on a conventional CRT. Spatial ability interacted with 'head tracking' condition, with low spatial ability participants performing more poorly when using head tracking than when this facility was not available. It is concluded that the use of dual input systems in the head tracking condition (head tracking and mouse) increased the cognitive demands placed on participants, resulting in a less 'robust' interface.

This article presents an experimental investigation of the process of computer-based command generation. The comparative cognitive demands imposed by menu and command line interfaces are examined in relation to individual differences in expertise and cognitive ability. Three-way interactions between associative memory, expertise, and command generation method indicated similarities in the performance of expert participants with low associative memory and that of novices. Spatial memory also interacted with expertise, with novices with low spatial memory performing more poorly than any other group. Implications for interface design are considered.

This paper presents an empirical investigation of age and cognitive ability as predictors of computerized information retrieval. Upon the basis of age-related changes in cognitive ability, hypotheses were generated relating to the effects of database structure (linear, hierarchical, or network) and node selection method (explicit or embedded menu). In keeping with previous research in other areas of human-computer interaction, there was a significant main effect of age, with older subjects performing more slowly. However, interactive effects of ‘question block’ indicated that older subjects were at a particular disadvantage in the early stages of task performance. Age differences in processing speed and/or psychomotor skill appeared to be a particularly important factor. Whilst the effects of cognitive ability were generally weak, spatial memory and logical reasoning scores were negatively correlated with information retrieval response times. Although interactions were not significant, trends in the data for all dependent measures suggested that older subjects may be at a disdvantage when using a network structure.