Cognition: Human–Computer Communication - Foundations for Designing User-Centered Systems - page 216

Parker, R. C. (2006). Looking good in print. Scottsdale, AZ: Paraglyph Press
For further details on how to apply information foraging theory, see Nielsen's
Alertbox on this: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030630.html
For more on information seeking more generally, a key figure is Carol Kuhlthau.
A 2005 online article gives a nice overview and introduces some useful concepts:
Kuhlthau, C. C. (2005). Towards collaboration between information seeking and infor-
mation retrieval. Information Research 10(2). 10-2.
Finally, a short magazine article by Churchill addresses some challenges in
designing for human search behavior:
Churchill, E. F. (2008). Ps and Qs of candied herbs and happy babies: Seeking and
searching on your own terms. Interactions. 15(6). 46-49.
7.9 Exercises
7.1. (a) Time how long it takes four people to read out loud (or silently)
Tables 7.3 and 7.4 . Time how long it takes four more people to read them on
screen (a tablet, smartphone, computer, or all of them) vs on paper. (b) What
are the differences? (There should be differences). Consider having the four
people read the text in the tables in each of the four ways (two levels of font
difficulty 9 two types of display, or 2 9 2). (c) Why would you want to have
different people do each task, and how could you correct for having the same
person do it each way?
7.2. Card sorting is a useful method for finding out how people organize the world.
In this simple method, you give people a set of objects noted one per card. They
can be words or pictures. The people then sort the cards into piles. The number
and size of piles can either be left to the sorters or, if there is a design constraint
that will have to be applied, into a restricted set of piles or sizes.
As an application of this method, examine a large application like Word,
Pages, GIMP, Excel, or Numbers. (a) Draw a graph or a table showing the
complete menu structure. Ask two people to look at the menu items on cards
(not on a menu) and organize the cards into groups. (b) What are average or
typical groupings? (c) Do these groupings match the application, or are
there differences between the personal groupings and menu structure? (d)
What does this tell you about the mental models of the designers and of
the users?
7.3. Create a web site or a document. Create five versions of it using different font
types and sizes. Ask ten people to rate the documents on four different
dimensions. You can choose dimensions, such as ease of use, trustworthiness,
fun. Record how long they take to read several of the pages out loud (so you
know they are reading them). You will need to present them in different
orders to balance the effect of learning over multiple trials. Examine the time