A Comprehension-based Model of Web Navigation and Its Application to Web Usability Analysis

CoLiDeS, a comprehension-based cognitive model of Web navigation, offers a theoretical explanation of the impasses users often encounter during information search and retrieval from the W W W, and also identifies the determinants of success cases. In this model, acting on a single Web page screen object is regarded as the outcome of a multi-step process: parsing the current display containing up to about 200 screen objects into five to ten top-level schematic objects; focusing on one of these top-level schematic objects; comprehending and elaborating the screen objects within the focused-on area; and then selecting one of the actual screen objects as the target for the next action, the object whose representation bears the highest degree of semantic similarity to the user’s goal.

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