Our class project in the Digital Media class is a study on the optimal
use of human attention resources in digital tools. We have performed some
experiments that aim to establish whether it is possible to guide the
attention focus of digital tools users. This is an issue that has been
greatly debated. Other researches and experiments have been performed
which are not exactly the same but are in a way similar to the one we
are doing in class. I will try to make links or find relations between
some of these and our experiment.
1) A psychological study of banner blindness on the World Wide Web
Description of Study: Banner advertisements are a major source
of revenue for many internet companies, and yet recent reports suggest
that "click-through" rates have fallen alarmingly. Why do users
not click on banner advertisements? The phenomenon of "banner blindness"
suggests that many users simply fail to notice banners.
To
test this claim, a series of web sites were created, and banners were
inserted that were either useful for performing a task or were not useful.
Even though clicking on the target banners would assist users with the
tasks they were asked to perform, such behavior was almost never observed.
Only half the users reported noticing the banners, and only 10% of users
thought that the banners were ever useful. Rates of banner click-through
were not affected by a manipulation intended to test covert attentional
processing.
Conclusions: The conclusion is that banner blindness is more likely a
cognitive rather than perceptual phenomenon and those accordingly recent
attempts to make banners more noticeable (by introducing sound and movement)
will likely fail. However, banner advertisements may still be useful in
promoting brand awareness.
Source: http://www.psy.cuhk.edu.hk/%7Eusability/research/HaywardTsoi.html
2)
Split Menus: Effectively Using Selection Frequency to Organize Menus
Description of Study: Usually, when one uses specific Word programs, certain
items in a menu are selected more regularly than others. By placing several
of those frequently used items at the top of the menu, it is may be possible
to increase speed performance and improve preference ratings.
To prove this by experiments, design guidelines for split menus were developed
and applied. Split menus were implemented and tested in two in situ usability
studies and a controlled experiment. In the usability studies performance
times were reduced by 17 to 58% depending on the site and menus. In the
controlled experiment split menus were significantly faster than alphabetic
menus and yielded significantly higher subjective preferences.
Conclusion: Because the user’s preferred items
are easily accessible and noticeable, the user’s speed using the
program is increased.
Source: http://www.ac.aup.fr/roda/cs338/finalProjectFall2004/finalProject3/literature/Se
ars1994Menu.pdf
How these relate to our project
The first study discusses the “banner blindness” phenomenon
whereby computer users may see bold banners but fail to notice them. Users
disregard banners pop-ups because they believe that they are forms of
distraction and a waste of time. Sometimes clicking on them might lead
you to an unexpected and undesirable destination. The bigger and bolder
they get, the more annoying. However, even if the information is useful,
the user may not be interested at that particular time, or may be busy
doing something else. So it is not that they do not see or notice the
banners, but they choose not to.
It is possible to guide a user’s attention with the use of digital
tools. This experiment is basically stating that the use of banners is
not effective in guiding the digital tools user’s attention because
of what can be called ‘filtering’. Users unconsciously filter
out any information that seems to be publicity, in this way banners are
filtered out as well. If the information they were seeking were available
in another form, other than the banner, maybe users would be more likely
to turn their attention to it. In relation to our project, this proves
that in order to direct user’s attention, the resources used to
do so must be clear and effective, as in the highlighting of the correct
menus in our experiment 2.
The second study discusses how frequently used items in a menu may be
highlighted and may increase user speed performance. We see similar patterns
in our project. We noticed that it took users a relatively easier amount
of time to notice the highlighted menus.
It some cases it took the user the same amount of time to complete the
experiments highlighted as it did for the items not highlighted. This
could be related to frequency of computer use.
In our third experiment, the users were presented with a highlighted menu
that sometimes corresponds to the item asked to be found and other times
not. When some users where not directed by highlighted menus to find certain
items, they were found lost and confused and this decreased the amount
of time it took them to complete the experiments. However, others were
quick to adapt.
The position of the menu is also very important. I believe that it was easier for users to retrieve the items because the menus were close to the items. If the items that were asked to be found were located in a random place, they may perhaps have found it, but it may also have taken them a while. The study above suggests that when selecting items from pull-down menus, there is a higher level of frequency of use.