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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: GR/M43302/01
Title: COGNITIVE STRATEGIES AND DESIGN HEURISTICS FOR DEALING WITH INFORMATION OVERLOAD ON THE WEB
Principal Investigator: Payne, Professor SJ
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department: Sch of Psychology
Organisation: Cardiff University
Scheme: Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts: 01 September 1999 Ends: 31 December 2002 Value (£): 167,700
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Cognitive Science Appl. in ICT
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Financial Services Creative Industries
Information Technologies No relevance to Underpinning Sectors
Related Grants:
Panel History:  
Summary on Grant Application Form
Users of the web are typically confronted with more relevant information than they can read in the time available. Further, because the information is from a variety of sources it may be strangely structured and contain redundancies and inconsistencies. We propose that appropriate skim-reading strategies require the construction of structure maps, i.e. representations of a text which map meaning on to physical structure. To focus on goal relevant aspects of a text readers must somehow construct structure maps inferentially, mapping parts of the text they have yet to read. We will study how people read under time pressure, especially how they use constructed structure maps to focus their attention on different parts of a text. We will investigate how skimming strategies can be supported by aspects of the design of hypertexts such as the use of headings, the ordering of information and the provision of computed overviews of text contents. This research will extend current theories of text comprehension and reading strategies and will provide guidelines for the design of usable (skim-readable) web sites.
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Organisation Website: http://www.cf.ac.uk