LEARNING USER INTERFACES BY EXPLORATION

The aim of our project is to examine the ability of people to learn ho w to use a computer system by exploration and to assess the efficacy o f a user interface with facilities that are supposed to support explor ation. In addition, the development of different types of knowledge th at users have about the interface is tracked as they gain experience. We also examined the effect of individual learning style of the users on their exploratory behavior. In a first experiment it was found that subjects were indeed able to learn to use an electronic mail applicat ion that was unknown to them, No change in the user's knowledge about the interface could be measured, however, because the level of knowled ge rose to a high level already in an early stage of the experiment. A second experiment did not show a significant advantage of the interfa ce with the exploration-supportive facilities as compared to a version of the interface from which these facilities were removed or replaced by a simple paper user guide. In the third experiment a thinkaloud me thod was used to obtain more derailed information about the goals of t he user and their realization. Here the exploration-support resulted i n a more successful discovery and understanding of a number of the sys tem's functions, in a better task performance in the second half of th e series of tasks, and in a better procedural knowledge about the inte rface. The discrepancy with the findings of the previous experiment, i n which subjects were not required to think aloud, is discussed. In th is experiment, as well as in the previous experiment no effects of lea rning style were found.