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David K. Farkas HCDE University of Washington

David K. Farkas HCDE University of Washington. “Scent and Situation Awareness”. What is situation awareness?. Navigating a website is similar to wayfinding in the physical world We use landmarks, we remember our route, we build a mental model On the Web we are generally navigating hierarchies.

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David K. Farkas HCDE University of Washington

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  1. David K. FarkasHCDEUniversity of Washington “Scent and Situation Awareness”

  2. What is situation awareness? • Navigating a website is similar to wayfinding in the physical world • We use landmarks, we remember our route, we build a mental model • On the Web we are generally navigating hierarchies

  3. Understanding your location in a hierarchy

  4. Users differ in how fully they utilize situation awareness • Depends on the individual user • Depends on a user’s goals and circumstances • Depends on the website (small vs. large) • Users may prefer “opportunistic” navigation

  5. For large websites situation awareness is limited

  6. What is “scent”? • Navigation is similar to the behavior of foraging animals (Pirolli and Card) • Links (metaphorically speaking) give off a scent that users may choose to follow • Scents must be distinct • A strong scent is more apt to attract users

  7. Distinctiveness and strength

  8. Visualizing scent

  9. What “scent” really means • Scent is a metaphor for confidence • Scent captures a trade-off that characterizes all user navigation: motivation vs. confidence level plus projected effort • A distinct scent means the user has confidence regarding ultimate success • A strong scent means the goal is near—little effort will be required

  10. Take-aways • Situation awareness: Navigating a website is akin to wayfaring in the real world • Design for situation awareness, but recognize its limitations • Scent is a metaphor for the user’s cost- benefit analysis when following links • Require distinct scents—links must point clearly to their destinations • Try for strong scents but users will follow a weak scent if it is distinct

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