| This study examines the performance of navigational tools in information finding tasks based on the complexity of the hypertext space, and the degree of “information scent” available through the tools. Operational metrics for the Web site complexity were examined and analyzed. Information scent was measured empirically. The 3 x 2 x 2 factorial design within subjects was employed. A browser, a graphical overview and integrated tool were examined. Questions were created, measured for information scent, and classified as high information scent and low information scent questions over six Web sites, three low complexity Web sites and three high complexity Web sites. The number of tasks completed, the number of answers found, time spent on task, and the number of pages viewed were measured.; Performance in the information finding tasks was different when using different tools in the various conditions. The results showed that there were significant interactions between tool, Web site complexity, and question type in performance measurements. Three-way interactions were found in the number of tasks completed and the number of revisited page views. Two-way interactions between tool and Web site complexity were found in the number of page views, the number of pages, and the number of extra page views. Two-way interactions between tool and question type were found in the number of answers found, time spent on task, the number of pages, and the number of extra page views. The Web site complexity and the information scent show strong effects on tasks' performance.; Although the integrated tool had more capabilities than either single tool alone, it did not provide higher performance. The integrated tool leverages the difference of single tool capabilities. There was an indication that the integrated tool had more cognitive overhead. |
