The Effects of Page-Linking Architectures and Cognitive Styles on Browsing Behaviors in the Web Sites of Design Information Services

• Main Authors: Chen-ying Chang, 張貞瑩
• Other Authors: Li-Chieh Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2005
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/48554754127299136593

碩士 === 大同大學 === 工業設計學系(所) === 93 === In order to satisfy with the demand from different kinds of customers, some websites can provide the real time and adaptive web pages when the users are browsing the web pages. In the design factors of devising information web pages, the architecture of web pages is the important decisive factor of browsing efficiency. Besides, the cognitive styles of different users may also affect the behaviors of web pages browsing and then affect the results of browsing. The purpose of this study is to study the effect of “the link architecture” and “the type of user’s cognitive style” upon the behavior of web pages browsing in the design of information web pages, and further to establish the design rules of the architecture of information web pages. First, the subjects were assigned to take the Group Embedded Figure Test (GEFT). After determining their cognitive styles, i.e. Field Dependent (FD) or Field Independent (FI), they then participated in the experiments of hierarchical and mixed (hierarchical with linear) web site architectures on the computer in the second phase. There were five assignments which are based on the common questions users would like to search in the web site of design information service. After these experiments, the researcher used Analysis of Variance to determine whether two web pages and two cognitive styles have significant effects on the performance of subjects or on subjective evaluation while operating web pages. This study also focused on the browsing behavior that was used to conduct Cluster Analysis to determine the effects of two web pages and two cognitive styles. The results show that when the searching assignments in an information web site are most of “topic searching concerned with date,” using mixed (hierarchical with linear) web pages yield less browsing time and less browsing pages. If most of the searching assignments are “fact searching,” the designer can use mixed architecture for better performance in browsing pages. When the searching assignment is “fact searching,” FD subjects are more frequently use the link buttons on the web pages. However, FD subjects spend more time in searching. This study also finds breadth or depth browsing behavior does not relate to the subject’s cognitive style. Besides, hierarchical architecture deflects subject to depth browsing behavior, and hierarchical with linear architecture can satisfy customers who with different behaviors, i.e., depth or breadth searching. Therefore, the depth or breadth browsing behavior relate to link architecture. Overall, hierarchical with linear link architecture is more appropriate for web pages for design information services.