Using knowledge structures to redesign an instructor-operator station

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Cognitive Psychology
• User Experience Design

Background:

• User interface (UI) designers face a dilemma: modify a familiar but inefficient UI or retain it to avoid user frustration.
• Failing to update UIs can lead to unsatisfactory user performance levels.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if users familiar with a poorly designed UI would find items faster in a reorganized UI.
• To determine user preference and performance satisfaction between a familiar, suboptimal UI and a reorganized, expert-informed UI.

Main Methods:

• Redesigned a menu structure for a simulator instructor-operator station (IOS) using hierarchical card sorting and cluster analysis.
• Reorganized the menu structure based on domain expert knowledge and the principle of proximity compatibility.
• Validated the new design through a reaction time experiment and user preference selection.

Main Results:

• Users familiar with the original UI showed faster performance and higher satisfaction with the reorganized UI.
• The reorganized UI, conforming to expert knowledge, outperformed the familiar, suboptimal design.

Conclusions:

• Reorganizing familiar but suboptimal user interfaces can enhance user performance and satisfaction.
• User familiarity with an inefficient design does not necessarily guarantee superior performance or preference over an optimized alternative.