Exploring Information Navigation Strategies with a Computational Model

A computational model of a user navigating Web pages was used to identify factors that affect Web site usability. The model approximates a typical user searching for specified target information in architectures of varying menu depth. Search strategies, link ambiguity, and memory capacity were varied and model predictions compared to human user data. The best fits to observed data were obtained when the model assumed that users 1) used little memory capacity; 2) selected a link whenever its perceived likelihood of success exceeded a threshold; and, 3) opportunistically searched below threshold links on selected pages prior to returning to the parent page.