Ecological displays, information integration, and display format: An empirical evaluation across multiple small displays

We investigated factors in the design of small displays designed using the ecological interface design (EID) methodology. Method of information integration and level of consistency of object visual form were varied across displays, which were designed to allow control of a manual single-lens reflex camera. Novice camera users performed real photography tasks of variable difficulty using displays in which information was either separated (i.e., shown on different screens), integrated on the basis of a system function and process-oriented work domain model (the abstraction hierarchy), or integrated on the basis of a control task model (the decision ladder). The visual form of the objects used for camera control was also varied: Objects were designed either using similar graphical codes or incorporating multiple graphical codes. Results show improved performance with integrated displays compared with separated displays. Importantly, integration was advantageous for complex tasks. Results also revealed that system integrated displays supported overall performance better than task integrated displays. Additionally, using consistent graphical codes to create the objects provided performance advantages, especially for more difficult tasks. Recommendations for the design of EID display objects as well as methods for integrating information across multiple EID displays are provided.