DECISIONAL GUIDANCE - Human-Computer Interaction and Management Information Systems: Foundations - page 80

Figure 6.1 Studies of Decisional Guidance by Target and Form of Guidance

Form of Guidance

Suggestive Guidance Informative Guidance

Parikh, Fazlollahi, and Verma (2001)

Jiang and Klein (2000)

Wilson and Zigurs (1999)

Montazemi,
Wang, Nainar,
and Bart (1996)

Mahoney, Roush,
and Dandy (2003)

Limayem and
DeSanctis
(1993, 2000)

Huguenard and
Ballou (2001)

Wang and Benbasat (2004)

Antony, Batra, and
Santhanam (2005)

In studying performance, several of the studies considered not only quality but also the time
required to complete the task. The findings were mixed. Parikh et al. (2001) found that users with
decisional guidance spent significantly less time making decisions than those without, although
their total system time increased due to the need to cope with the guidance. Wilson and Zigurs
(1999) found that for spatial tasks, but not symbolic tasks, subjects given displays fitting the tasks
required less time than subjects who selected their own displays. Mahoney et al. (2003) found that
subjects responded significantly faster when given displays fitting the task than when given dis-
plays that did not fit. Limayem and DeSanctis (2000) found that groups given decisional guidance
required significantly more time to complete their tasks.

Other Effects of Interest

Researchers have found a number of statistically significant guidance effects other than just per-
formance effects. Parikh et al. (2001, 2002) studied user satisfaction and user learning, finding
that decisional guidance contributed positively to both. More specifically, informative guidance
contributed more than suggestive guidance to user learning, and dynamic guidance contributed
more than predefined guidance. Limayem and DeSanctis (2000) studied similar outcomes in the
context of groups. Decisional guidance led to better learning (model understanding) and higher
perceptions of several types, including perceptions of decision quality and decision scheme satis-
faction. Huguenard and Ballou (2001) found that users of suggestive guidance not only performed
better but also were also more satisfied than those without the guidance. Wang and Benbasat