Effects of Menu Foresight on Information Access in Small Screen Devices

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of menu foresight (the number of menu items visible at a time on the display) on the usability of small screen devices. Cognitive factors (field dependency, locus of control and mental rotation ability) mediating the effects were assessed in order to identify the underlying processes of accessing information. Thirty-nine participants processed tasks on a simulated cellular phone where one, three or seven menu items were presented on the display. Search time, executed steps as well as ratings of the ease of use were collected. Results show that intermediate foresight (three items) led to the best performance. Highly field dependent users showed to have extreme difficulties when only one function was seen on the display whereas low spatial ability participants had most trouble with seven items displayed at a time. These findings suggest that cognitive processes of prestructuring information account for the effects of menu foresight.