Using information systems while performing complex tasks: an example from architectural design
✍ Scribed by Erica de Vries; Ton de Jong
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1997
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 351 KB
- Volume
- 46
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1071-5819
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✦ Synopsis
Nowadays , information systems , such as hypertexts , allow a variety of ways in which to structure information . Information systems are also used for an increasing number of purposes . In our study we examined two dif ferent purposes for using information systems in the context of a real task : architectural design . In design processes , information gathering plays a dif ferent role depending on design phase , and both exploration and finding information are important sub-processes . A study is presented in which the main goal was to determine whether there are advantages of certain information structures when carrying out a particular activity . Both tasks and variables used in the experiment were related to characteristics of the design process as identified in the literature . Two dif ferent kinds of information gathering behaviour , browsing and searching were studied , and criterion tests corresponded to the desired outcome in the design context , i . e . enlargement of the users' information span for browsing and their knowledge of specific topics for searching . Results showed a number of interactions between information structure and information gathering task depending on the particular criterion test examined . Inspection of each purpose on its own criterion test revealed the merits of network structures for browsing , but also for searching . These results parallel the recommendations emanating from design disciplines to provide information structures for design that do not impose a hierarchical structure , but that show the complexity of design information . Recommendations for hypertext research include the study of navigational characteristics in combination with tasks and variables that are meaningful in a specific context .