Navigation in Hypermedia and Geographic Space, Same or Different?

: This paper presents both a theoretical analysis of differences between geographic and hypermedia spaces, and some experimental data comparing users’ ability to navigate in hypermedia and in geographic space. Both the theoretical analysis and the empirical data suggest that navigation in hypermedia and in geographic spaces to a large extent are different kinds of tasks. In the final section some possible consequences for the design of interactive systems that follow from this analysis are presented, most importantly that since it has been shown that people differ both in their preference for presentation and representation of information, and in preferred cognitive strategies, designers of hypermedia information spaces should consider additional means of supporting users as a complement to present day map-like navigation aids.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: INTERACT
• Authors: Nils Dahlbäck
• Keywords: Geographic Spaces, Hypermedia, INTERACT 2003, INTERACT 2007, Theoretical Analysis