Design and Evaluation of Digital METOC Documents to Support Retrieval and Use of Information: User-Centric CDROM Compared to an Equivalent Paper Document and its Republished Web Version
Abstract
A field study was conducted to evaluate how U.S. Navy Meteorological and Oceanographic (METOC) personnel would use a user-centric CDROM (UC-CD), the equivalent paper document (PAPER), and its republished Web version (RP-WEB) to complete several problems that represented their actual work (e.g., prepare weather briefs, retrieve specific METOC facts). A methodology was developed and used to log the time spent in subtasks (i.e., search for information, interpret information) on these problems. Military METOC personnel at two facilities were recruited as subjects. Results showed that the type of interface had general effects on performance. For example, the browse time for information was longer in three problems using the RP-WEB interface compared to using the PAPER document. The longer browse times were not due to Web downloading delays. Recommendations are provided for improved METOC interface design.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 06, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADA384760
Entities
People
- James A. Balias
- Robert T. Miyamoto
- William C. Kooiman
- William S. Mcbride
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory