Navigation in Hyper-paper

Else Nygren

Nygren E (1996) Navigation in Hyper-paper Report no. 65/96 from Uppsala University Center for Human-Computer Studies, Uppsala, Sweden.

Abstract

This paper describes a study of navigation in a paper-based technical documentation system. Skilled experts at three military bases were interviewed about their information use. The documentation system was large and had many links in terms of inter-document references. Tables of contents or indexes were not much used, in spite of that, the experts navigated efficiently in the information space. Navigation was characterized by successive confinement of search space, evaluation of a set of target candidates and, finally, verification of the target. Features like document layout, typography and spatial organization were extensively used. Modern hypertext systems could be improved by expressing content structure in typographical features, by adding facilities for rapid page-wize skimming within a document, and ways to expose a set of target candidates for quick evaluation.

Else Nygren, CMD, Uppsala University, Lägerhyddvägen 18, S-752 37 Uppsala, Sweden