| Abstract: |
This research examines the effects of
network delays, document type, and various user
characteristics on the perceived usability of distributed
documents on the Internet. Six experimental conditions
were analyzed: text only documents and documents
including text and graphics at three levels of delay.
Usability was assessed by analyzing responses to
questions about ease of locating information, information
organization, information quality, and navigation
problems. The results showed significant interactions of
network delay and document type on subjects' perceptions
of quality, organization, navigation, and several
additional factors that are important to organizations
providing information on the Internet. Both the number of
hours subjects reported spending using the Internet and
subjects' self-reported command of the English language
were significantly correlated with perceptions of various
aspects of the Internet sites examined. While our results
indicate that Internet users may prefer highly graphical
Web sites, it appears that they are unwilling to tolerate
substantial delays, preferring plain text documents as
delays increase. Suggestions for future research are
provided. |