Performance Benefits of Simultaneous over Sequential Menus as Task Complexity Increases

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Date
1999-12-21Author
Hochheiser, H.
Kositsyna, N.
Ville, G.
Shneiderman, B.
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Show full item recordAbstract
To date, experimental comparisons of menu layouts have concentrated on variants
of hierarchical structures of sequentially presented menus. Simultaneous
menus - layouts which present multiple active menus on a screen at the same
time - are an alternative arrangement that may be useful in many web design
situations. This paper describes an experiment involving a between-subject
comparison of simultaneous menu and their traditional sequential counterparts.
Twenty experienced web users used either simultaneous or sequential menus in a
standard web browser to answer questions based on US Census data. For novice
users performing simple tasks the simplicity of sequential menus appears to be
helpful, but for most tasks and most users there is good evidence to believe
that simultaneous menus speed performance and improve satisfaction. Design
improvements can amplify the benefits of simultaneous menu layouts.
(Also cross-referenced asUMIACS-TR-99-60)