A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO USER INTERFACE DESIGN FOR A HYPERTEXT FRAMEWORKIntroductionThe issue of incorporating semantics into a hypertext network has been addressed before.[7,25] Rao and Turoff had proposed a general framework for hypertext functionality based on Guilford's Structure of the Intellect Model.[20] They had observed that as hypertext databases grow in size, they suffer from a lack of coherence due to ambiguity in meanings assigned to nodes and links. Hence, they proposed a framework which classified nodes into six different semantic types and links into twelve different types. Such a comprehensive framework would help designers develop better design metaphors and implementation models for hypertext systems. A first step in this direction is to develop an appropriate user interface which would reduce functional and system opacities. A number of tools have been developed for hypertext navigation since Conklin addressed the issues of disorientation and cognitive overhead.[8] These include graphical browsers, overview diagrams, web views, paths, trails, guided tours and tabletops, history lists, timestamps, footprints, backtracks, bookmarks, queries, embedded menus, fisheye views and roam and zoom techniques.[3,7,11,13,17,24,28,30] Authoring guidelines have also been proposed for the organization of information in a hypertext system.[23] However, there has been no systematic and comprehensive approach towards the design of user interfaces for hypertext systems. This paper attempts to explore the application of a set of user interface design guidelines to the aforementioned hypertext framework. |
||||
|
