The effect of interaction between menu design and information structure on information searching performance and attitude on the World Wide Web

The purpose of this study was to investigate the interaction effect of Web site menu designs and information structures on two information searching performances (directed browsing and semi-directed browsing) and three measures of users' attitudes (appeal, usability, and disorientation). Nine Cyber-Shopping mall Web sites were developed with three different menu designs (simple selection menu, global and local navigation menu, and pull-down menu) and three different information structures (constant, decreasing, and increasing information structure). Fifty-five undergraduate and graduate students from a mid-western university participated in this study. Participants were randomly assigned to three information structure groups; participants in each group were exposed to all three menu designs. The order of exposure to experimental Web sites was counter-balanced to minimize order effects. A two-way analysis of variance with repeated measure on one factor (menu design) was employed to analyze data.; Pronounced interaction effects occurred across all five dependent variables when decreasing and increasing information structure were combined with a simple selection menu and a pull-down menu. Results showed that the Web sites employing decreasing information structure with a pull-down menu and increasing information structure with a simple selection menu both resulted in faster semi-browsing performance, higher appeal, higher usability and lower disorientation. However, increasing information structure combined with a pull-down menu produced worse results on these five dependent variables. The number of links and flexible navigation methods provided by the menu and information structure together may contribute the interaction effect. A pull-down menu design provides not only more links but also more flexible navigation methods compared to a simple selection menu, which shows only the links to the next lower level. Showing more links with more flexible navigation methods may help users not only understand the relationships among levels easily and quickly but also help users perceive Web site structure. However, without flexible navigation methods, showing more links may not be effective. Further studies are needed to investigate additional interactions among factors of interface and information structure of Web sites.