Conceptualizing space: A study of concepts and the spatial dimension in graphical user interfaces
Translated title
Konceptdannelse og spatiale relationer i grafiske brugergrænseflader
Authors
Møller, Anders Kalsgaard ; Christiansen, Jonas Høier
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2012
Submitted on
2012-05-31
Pages
96
Abstract
Traditionelle mappesystemer gør det ofte svært for brugere at huske, hvor filer ligger. De giver hverken nok rumlige ledetråde (fornemmelse af "hvor" man er) eller kontekstuel information (oplysninger om omgivelser og placering). Formålet med studiet var at undersøge, om et system med tydeligere rumlig oplevelse kunne forbedre brugernes evne til at genfinde objekter, og om mere kontekstuel information kunne øge deres stedfornemmelse i systemet. Vi byggede en prototype, der brugte en hus-metafor til at understøtte rumlig perception og viste et kort/mini-kort for at give overblik over placeringer. Prototypen blev testet i et forsøg, hvor deltagere skulle finde musikalbums i systemet, og præstationen blev sammenlignet med et kontrolsystem. Resultaterne viste, at deltagerne var signifikant bedre til at finde albums i prototypen end i kontrolsystemet. Forsøget viste også, at deltagerne brugte mini-kortet for at få et bedre overblik. Resultaterne tyder på, at rumlige metaforer kombineret med kontekstuelle kort kan hjælpe brugere med at orientere sig og finde filer mere effektivt.
Traditional folder systems often make it hard for people to remember where files are stored. They offer too few spatial cues (a sense of "where" you are) and too little contextual information (information about surroundings and location). This study examined whether a system that strengthens spatial perception would improve people’s ability to recall and find objects, and whether adding contextual information would increase their awareness of their location in the system. We built a prototype that used a house metaphor to support spatial perception and provided a map/mini-map to give an overview. In an experiment, participants used the prototype to find music albums, and their performance was compared with a control system. Participants were significantly better at finding albums with the prototype than with the control system. The experiment also showed that they used the mini-map to get a better overview. These findings suggest that combining spatial metaphors with contextual maps can help users orient themselves and locate files more effectively.
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