When Links Change: How Additions and Deletions of Single Navigation Links Affect User Performance
Lauren F.V. Scharff and Philip Kortum
Journal of Usability Studies, Volume 5, Issue 1, Nov 2009, pp. 8 - 20
Abstract
This study examined user performance for Web sites in which a critical navigation link may have changed over the course of two visits. These second visits occurred either immediately after the first visit, one week later, or three weeks later. A shortcut link to the information was either consistently present, consistently absent, or varied between user visits. Results indicated when a pertinent navigation link was removed users searched through more pages and were less accurate in finding target information. When a link was added after the first visit, only about half of the users used it; however, even users who didn’t use the added link still showed a performance improvement in their subsequent visit, suggesting that completing a single previous search on a site will lead to relatively long-term memories that can influence subsequent searches.
Practitioner’s Take Away
The following were the main findings of the study:
- By the second time users visit a site, their performance improves compared to their first visit (decreased page counts and search times), even after delays of up to three weeks.
- Even small changes, like the addition or deletion of a single link, can have large impacts on user performance.
- Presence of a shortcut link to vital information dramatically increases the probability that a user will find that information. Compared to a site without the link, users will be faster and visit fewer pages.
- When a pertinent navigation link is removed, users search through more pages and are less accurate in finding target information.
- When users have clear memory of a site, deletion of a link causes users to exhaustively examine the primary navigation structure; this behavior persists as the delay between visits increases for at least up to three weeks.
- When a link is added after the first visit, only about half of the users will use it. The rest will continue to use the site in the way they have done in the past.
- Even users who don’t use an added link still show a performance improvement in their subsequent visits, suggesting that secondary paths to information should not be deleted simply because a top-level navigation link has been added.
- Even if the link is removed after a user has been exposed to it, users are no less accurate than if the link had never been present.
Article Contents
Download Article
When Links Change: How Additions and Deletions of Single Navigation Links Affect User Performance