Choosing between methods: analysing the user's decision space in terms of schemas and linear models

Authors:
R. M. Young;A. MacLean
Affiliations:
MRC Applied Psychology Unit, Cambridge, England;MRC Applied Psychology Unit, Cambridge, England
Venue:
CHI '88 Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Year:
1988

Citing 3
Cited 5

Predicting the time to recall computer command abbreviations

CHI '87 Proceedings of the SIGCHI/GI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems and Graphics Interface
The sciences of the artificial (3rd ed.)

The sciences of the artificial (3rd ed.)
The Psychology of Human-Computer Interaction

The Psychology of Human-Computer Interaction

Development and evaluation of direct manipulation lists (poster session)

ACM SIGCHI Bulletin
Method engineering: from data to model to practice

CHI '92 Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Measuring usability: preference vs. performance

Communications of the ACM
The growth of cognitive modeling in human-computer interaction since GOMS

Human-Computer Interaction
Incorporating behavioral techniques into the systems development life cycle

MIS Quarterly

Quantified Score

Hi-index	0.02

Visualization

Abstract

We offer an account of how users choose between alternative methods which take different times to accomplish the same task. Users offered a choice between two methods do not necessarily pick the faster. We argue that users reduce the complexity of the decision space by applying a 'simple compensation schema' acquired from everyday experience. Linear models of performance time enable us to predict how users will view the situation in terms of this schema, and how accurate assessment of the optimal choices within the schema-based assimilations can result in an apparent bias in favour of one method.