AN EMPIRICAL-ASSESSMENT OF A MULTIMEDIA EXECUTIVE SUPPORT SYSTEM

An experiment was conducted to assess the use of 'Multimedia' in ESS ( executive support system) and its potential impact on the effectivenes s of information analysis. Data was collected from 40 managers and/or professional employees in three business organizations. The primary ta sk was to analyze information, stored in an ESS prototype, in order to identity some possible threats and opportunities. The results of the study suggest that multimedia may not be an appropriate presentation f ormat for analytical tasks. Managers and professional employees who us ed a multimedia ESS identified fewer threats and opportunities than th ose who used a text-based system. Contrary to the results of several p revious studies, the use of multimedia did not improve information ret ention. During the post-experiment interview, subjects indicated that the use of sound annotations had adversely affected their ability to a nalyze information. They also suggested that some multimedia component s, such as animated charts or animated text blocks, were unnecessary. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.