The effects of varying levels of interface cues derived from metaphors on computer users' information search performance

Metaphors have been used by practitioners to design computer interfaces to facilitate user learning since the 1980's (Erickson, 1990). As computer systems become more complex, the issue of using a large number of metaphors of narrow scope to design interfaces has arisen. Several researchers have proposed the use of multiple metaphors to design computer systems, because the provision of multiple metaphors would better match the characteristics of the complex systems. However, Gentner's (1983) Structure Mapping Theory points out that an analogy mainly conveys overlap in relations among objects, not overlap in the characteristics of the objects. If one agrees with this claim, then one must argue that mixing multiple metaphors in creating an interface may break down the overall structure of a metaphor; thus, it may entail negative effects on users' performance as they interact with the interface.; This study set out to compare the effects of structural cues derived from single versus multiple metaphors in designing hypertext systems. Three versions of a hypertext were created with interfaces using different degrees of structural cues taken from one or two metaphors. A total of 54 college students were used as the subjects to perform some information search tasks with the three hypertexts. Four types of performance data analyzed were the accuracy of found answers, speed and navigational paths in searching for each question, and subjects' satisfaction with the system. One way analysis of variance and correlation measurements were used to analyze the data.; Results show that the provision of metaphorical cues helped subjects to find a greater number of accurate answers in a shorter time. Different search strategies were applied by those subjects using interfaces with more metaphorical cues. The use of richer structural cues taken from multiple metaphors help subjects to find desired information in a hypertext system to meet learning goals, but it also require extensive mental effort for subjects to identify the functions of each elements from different metaphors. The more complete mapping between the base and target domains in the design of the interface with cues from multiple metaphors may have helped subjects to develop mote sophisticated representations of the hypertext structure.