This part of the project is focusing on how user perceptions are altered by network delays. Issues such as perceived quality of the information, organization of the information, and quality of the company providing the information are all being investigated. The influence of many additional factors are also being tested. Preliminary results are interesting in that they indicate that users may like multi-media web sites, but that they are not willing to accept the substantial delays that are often associated with delivering the necessary graphics, video, audio, and animation. This indicates that network delays may have interesting implications on the design of distributed documents.
Two basic hypotheses are being investigated as part of this research:
Our first study established the validity of our hypotheses by utilizing two versions of a WWW site that differed substantially. This work was funded, in part, by Microsoft Corporation.
While many companies incorporate animation and eye-catching graphics in an attempt to create a positive impression with users, the benefits of these changes have not been demonstrated. This extension continues our previous work, but from a different perspective. The question investigated by the current study is whether or not changes, like those described previously, actually result in more favorable impressions by users of the WWW site. Our result indicate that this is not the case.
By simplifying a WWW site by excluding simple animations, graphical buttons, and graphics that provide no additional information while also optimizing the remaining graphics the simplified site received ratings similar to the original site. This has practical significance because it implies that companies can save development time and users can save download time without negative consequences.
Julie A. Jacko
Department of Industrial Engineering
University of Wisconsin - Madison