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Revealing user behaviour on the world-wide web

de Léon, David LU and Holsanova, Jana LU orcid (1997) In Lund University Cognitive Studies 60
Abstract
This paper presents the results of a qualitative study of user behaviour on the World-Wide Web. Eight participants were filmed whilst performing user-defined tasks and then asked to review the video-taped session during prompted recall. This data forms the basis for a series of descriptions of user behaviour and the postulation of a number of underlying cognitive mechanisms. Our results indicate that people: lack ready made search strategies, prefer alternatives that are visible, immediately available and familiar, choose the path of least resistance, exhibit social forms of behaviour, engage in parallel activities, object to misleadingly presented information, have trouble orienting, are late in using appropriate strategies, are sensitive... (More)
This paper presents the results of a qualitative study of user behaviour on the World-Wide Web. Eight participants were filmed whilst performing user-defined tasks and then asked to review the video-taped session during prompted recall. This data forms the basis for a series of descriptions of user behaviour and the postulation of a number of underlying cognitive mechanisms. Our results indicate that people: lack ready made search strategies, prefer alternatives that are visible, immediately available and familiar, choose the path of least resistance, exhibit social forms of behaviour, engage in parallel activities, object to misleadingly presented information, have trouble orienting, are late in using appropriate strategies, are sensitive to matters of time, and are emotionally involved in the activity. The paper ends with a discussion of how these results can contribute to our understanding of hypermedia. Keywords: Internet, World-Wide Web, Browsing Strategies, Hypertext Navigation, Qualitative Methodology, User-Defined Tasks, Cognitive Mechanisms. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Working paper/Preprint
publication status
published
subject
in
Lund University Cognitive Studies 60
ISSN
1101-8453
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e476f655-292f-4537-a805-a4a38a67cbe9 (old id 793322)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 09:36:58
date last changed
2020-10-15 02:19:51
@misc{e476f655-292f-4537-a805-a4a38a67cbe9,
  abstract     = {{This paper presents the results of a qualitative study of user behaviour on the World-Wide Web. Eight participants were filmed whilst performing user-defined tasks and then asked to review the video-taped session during prompted recall. This data forms the basis for a series of descriptions of user behaviour and the postulation of a number of underlying cognitive mechanisms. Our results indicate that people: lack ready made search strategies, prefer alternatives that are visible, immediately available and familiar, choose the path of least resistance, exhibit social forms of behaviour, engage in parallel activities, object to misleadingly presented information, have trouble orienting, are late in using appropriate strategies, are sensitive to matters of time, and are emotionally involved in the activity. The paper ends with a discussion of how these results can contribute to our understanding of hypermedia. Keywords: Internet, World-Wide Web, Browsing Strategies, Hypertext Navigation, Qualitative Methodology, User-Defined Tasks, Cognitive Mechanisms.}},
  author       = {{de Léon, David and Holsanova, Jana}},
  issn         = {{1101-8453}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Working Paper}},
  series       = {{Lund University Cognitive Studies 60}},
  title        = {{Revealing user behaviour on the world-wide web}},
  year         = {{1997}},
}