Abstract

Understanding the specific nature of disorientation in hyperspace will benefit from a battery of characterizations of the space being navigated, the user navigating the space, and their interaction. This study focuses on a particular consideration for understanding the "lost-in-hyperspace" problem, namely "transitional volatility". Metrics investigated in relation to disorientation and Web site mental models include: 1) the navigational and content changes of a Web site's interface in page-to-page transitions, and 2) the users' ability to reorient themselves to these changes. Metrics to relate to disorientation and Web site mental models include the extent to which 1) a navigation session is volatile, 2) a user is typically habituated in navigation patches, and 3) a user can predict navigation support changes at destination pages. The primary concern of the study was the effects of the navigational volatility on disorientation and Website mental models for two common hierarchical navigational schemes: partial overview and local context support.

Citations