AN EMPIRICAL-INVESTIGATION OF INFORMATION SEARCH STRATEGIES WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR DECISION-SUPPORT SYSTEM-DESIGN

Understanding how people search through and combine information before making decisions is an important concern in the study of decision making and in the design of decision support systems (DSS). The purpose of this study is to examine DSS search strategies in relation to the body of empirical research on information load. Prior research is examined in relation to basic empirically-testable hypotheses and compared to the results of this study as a way of validating the procedures used here. The transfer of information load empirical research to a DSS scenario is confirmed statistically. Then, results of an analysis of information search patterns under DSS conditions ate described. Finally, implications for DSS design are discussed in terms of possible search support mechanisms for specific search strategies.