The impact of context-aware fisheye models on understanding business processes: An empirical study of data flow diagrams

• Published in: Information & management Vol. 44; no. 1; pp. 40 - 52
• Main Authors: Turetken, Ozgur, Schuff, David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 2007; Elsevier Science; Elsevier Sequoia S.A
• Subjects: ANOVA; Business process redesign; End users; End-user computing; Exact sciences and technology; Information and communication sciences; Information management; Information processing; Information retrieval systems. Information and document management system; Information science. Documentation; Information visualization; Interfaces. Software; Laboratory experiments; Process improvement; Process modeling; Sciences and techniques of general use; Studies; Theory verification; User interface; Information visualization; Process modeling; User interface; ANOVA; Process improvement; End-user computing; Theory verification; Laboratory experiments; Business process redesign; Information representation; Context aware; Fisheye view; Variance analysis; Diagram; Data flow; Business process
• ISSN: 0378-7206; 1872-7530
• DOI: 10.1016/j.im.2006.10.004

We investigated whether a “context-aware” fisheye view can more successfully communicate the information contained in a set of process models (data flow diagrams) than a traditional “context-free” presentation. We conducted two controlled experiments: the first included a simple set of DFDs and tasks that required a basic understanding of the system, while the second involved more detailed views of the same processes, and also a more complex task. Subjects who used the fisheye process models outperformed those using the traditional presentations. This difference was reflected in task performance for all subjects, and in task completion time for inexperienced subjects.