Reading of electronic documents: the usability of linear, fisheye, and overview+detail interfaces

ABSTRACT

Reading of electronic documents is becoming increasingly important as more information is disseminated electronically. We present an experiment that compares the usability of a linear, a fisheye, and an overview+detail interface for electronic documents. Using these interfaces, 20 subjects wrote essays and answered questions about scientific documents. Essays written using the overview+detail interface received higher grades, while subjects using the fisheye interface read documents faster. However, subjects used more time to answer questions with the overview+detail interface. All but one subject preferred the overview+detail interface. The most common interface in practical use, the linear interface, is found to be inferior to the fisheye and overview+detail interfaces regarding most aspects of usability. We recommend using overview+detail interfaces for electronic documents, while fisheye interfaces mainly should be considered for time-critical tasks.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.7 DOCUMENT AND TEXT PROCESSING

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.1 MODELS AND PRINCIPLES
  H.3 INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)

  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.2 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
  I.7 DOCUMENT AND TEXT PROCESSING

General Terms:
Design, Documentation, Human Factors, Performance, Theory

Keywords:
electronic documents, information retrieval, information visualization, reading activity, usability, user study