Effects of interface layout design on mobile learning efficiency: a comparison of interface layouts for mobile learning platform

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the impact of mobile learning platforms on users' study efficiency and develop cognitive indicators to evaluate users' study efficiency on mobile learning platforms.Design/methodology/approachLayout style was the only independent factor that was investigated. A between-group experimental design was employed. Eye movement data were recorded during the experiment, following which participants were asked to complete an after-scenario questionnaire. This study evaluated the usability of the proposed new design using both subjective and objective data. The computer system usability questionnaire V3 (CSUQ) was used to measure subjective data. For the eye-tracking measure, gaze entropy, the proportion of fixation count and duration of each AOI were calculated. Gaze entropy reflects the complexity of information organization. Fixation counts and AOI duration represent the difficulty of information processing and attention distribution, respectively during the task.FindingsThe results indicated that interface layout presents significant effects on user's learning efficiency, usability and cognitive load. Sequential layout improved efficiency and satisfaction among participants and reduced information complexity. The results provided useful insights for designers whose goal is to improve user's learning efficiency under mobile learning scheme.Originality/valueThis study investigated the effects of interface layout on usability, user performance and cognitive load using subjective ratings and eye-tracking technology. Gaze entropy was used to measure the complexity of information organized by the interface design. Fixation count and duration proportion were used to identify the difficulty of information processing and distinguish users' distribution of cognitive resources. The results indicated that a vertical layout panel design was more efficient than a horizontal layout panel design. The design implications of the eye tracking indicators and research results were then summarized. This study is expected to encourage designers to optimize their design proposals using eye tracking testing.

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“…They showed that it is more effective to use text-embedded images would provide better results in recall and recognition. Readers may also be interested in research using eye-tracking (Su et al ., 2022; Wu and Zhang, 2022; Zhang et al ., 2022) and brain-computer interfaces (Wójcik, 2022b; Wang et al ., 2022) on the design, use and evaluation of information retrieval systems.…”

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“…People have also changed their learning habits to online and digital, particularly for the newer generation (Cheung et al ., 2023; Conrad et al ., 2022; Dai and Chiu, 2023; Dong et al ., 2021; Jiang et al ., 2023a, b; Law et al ., 2019; Lei et al ., 2021; Leung et al ., 2023; Mak et al ., 2022; Sung and Chiu, 2022; Wai et al ., 2018; Wang and Xie, 2022; Wong and Chiu, 2023c; Xie et al ., 2023a, b; Zhang et al ., 2021, 2022; Zhou et al , 2022).…”

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“…In the future, designers can make vertical layout panels for the mobile learning platform since a vertical layout was more efficient than a horizontal one. Future design can be maximized through eye-tracking testing [49].…”