Encouraging Exploratory Learning of a User Interface

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the efficacy of a user interface with properties that are supposed to encourage exploration. Based on performance and thinking aloud data the efficacy of this exploration-supportive interface was assessed. The exploration-support resulted in faster discovery and understanding of some of the system's functions, in a bettter task performance in the second half of the series of tasks, and in a better procedural knowledge about the interface. The discrepancy with the findings of a previous experiment, in which subjects were not required to think aloud, is discussed.