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The human-computer interface may be defined as the dialogue that allows communication between the human and the computer, the purpose of such dialogue being the accomplishment ofsome task. This thesis explored the relationship between task complexity, interface complexity, and user performance in the context of direct manipulation interfaces. Two different levels of task and interface complexity were introduced to subjects in two groups. Each group was presented with the identical task sets. There were three tasks sets, one a practice set, one a simple set requiring five inputs, and a complex task set requiring 24 inputs. The dependent variables measured were 1 ) task completion time, 2) number of errors committed, and 3) number jof help references needed. Results indicate that the complex interface took longer to learn, and more errors were made while learning. Results for the simple task set favored the simple interface as well, but once the subject learned the interface, the completion time was shorter and there were fewer errors made during the accomplishment of the complex task set on the complex interface. With an increase in task complexity, subjects using the complex interface showed an improvement in performance.

Thesis advisor, Kishore Sengupta

Thesis advisor, Kishore Sengupta

The human computer interface may be defined as the dialogue that allows communication between the human and the computer, the purpose of such dialogue being the accomplishment of some task. This thesis explored the relationship between task complexity, interface complexity, and user performance in the context of direct manipulation interfaces. Two different levels of task and interface complexity were introduced to subjects in two groups. Each group was presented with identical task sets they were asked to accomplish. There were three task sets, one a practice set, one a simple set, and a complex task set. The dependent variables measured were (1) task completion time, (2) number of errors committed, and (3) number of help references needed. Results indicate that the complex interface took longer to learn, and more errors were made while learning. Results for the simple task set favored the simple interface as well, but once the subject learned the complex interface, the completion time was shorter and there were fewer errors during the accomplishment of the complex task set on the complex interface. With an increase in task complexity, subjects using the complex interface showed an improvement in performance.