Navigation strategies with ecological displays

Ecological interface design (EID) has shown success as an approach for interface design in the case of a process control microworld. However, in applying the EID approach to larger systems, questions arise as how to support the navigation and integration of abstract information. In this study, three ecological displays were developed for a simulated power plant from the same abstraction hierarchy. The displays differed in the integration of abstract information, demonstrating high-space low-time, low-space high-time, and high-space high-time integration. While using the displays, the screen actions of subjects were recorded and their navigation movements studied through maps of navigation trajectories. Distinct differences were apparent between the temporally integrated and the temporally separated displays. In the temporally separated displays, clear scanning patterns emerged and these scanning patterns were correlated with improved performance on the display. This suggests that scanning patterns are an adaptation to needed but separated information. It also suggests that functional integration is an important characteristic to support when designing large ecological displays. (C) 2000 Academic Press.