The usability of lists versus graphs for representing the relationships between frames

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to compare user's performance using a list or graph in tasks which required users to verify statements about relationships between frames. The results showed a response time advantage for the graph that depended on the type of task performed. For tasks which involved simply verifying that a given frame existed or verifying a direct relationship between two frames, use of the list and graph resulted in about equal response time. For tasks which involved verifying indirect relationships between frames, or verifying that a particular frame occurred in a navigational pathway between two other frames, the graph was much faster than the list. The magnitude of the advantage depended on the number of direct relationships that had to be navigated to perform the task; the more the direct relationships that had to be navigated, the greater was the advantage for the graph. These results suggest that the relationships between frames should be presented to users as a graph.<>