Why an Examination Was Slower On-Line than On Paper.

Although most interactive systems seem to facilitate user work, our system—an interactive examination system—increased the time required by as much as 100%. To explore this phenomenon we videotaped four students taking an exam interactively and on paper. Analysis showed the extra time went to system overhead, think time and trouble understanding what to do. We were able to explain the latter two categories as the result of four varieties of “uncertainty”. Evidence included changes in review behavior and working habits, hesitation before leaving a page and the “context switch” time required to recognize even a familiar image. With subsequent improvements the increased time has been largely eliminated.