The effect of content customization on learnability and perceived workload

  • Authors:
  • Diego Rivera

  • Affiliations:
  • IBM Toronto Software Laboratory, Markham, ON, Canada

  • Venue:
  • CHI '05 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems
  • Year:
  • 2005

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Abstract

One of the key e-commerce challenges is to maintain an increasing amount of information up-to-date. This is a challenging task because frequently there is a substantial amount of data being created under tight deadlines. It is important that data management tools used for these tasks are efficient and easy to use. The present study describes the effect of UI content customization on learnability and perceived workload. Participants were asked to create 20 different products using four different web prototypes that varied in content density and customization capability. Mean time on task over 20 trials was fit using a power function and perceived workload was collected using NASA Task Load Index. The results obtained indicate that content customization allows users to reach peak performance faster and reduce task learning. Also, content customization reduces perceived mental demand and frustration as content density increases. Finally, participants performed faster and with higher satisfaction under the customization conditions.