Can Experience Overcome Prior Knowledge'S Impact on Web Navigation?

Farris (2003) discovered that users had greater difficulty finding information on a Web site when their prior knowledge was inconsistent with the site's content, relative to when their knowledge was consistent with it. In addition, he found that this difficulty was persistent over trials. To explain this persistence, Farris offered a schema-based account, which instantiated inconsistency in a single manner. The present study tested a prediction that was derived from Farris' account. The results associated with navigation efficiency supported Farris' account. The results associated with the choices made by participants as they navigated the site, however, contradicted his explanation. A new account, based on production-rules rather than schemata, is offered that accounts for both sets of results because it instantiates inconsistency in more than one manner. This new account has implications for the design and redesign of Web sites.