The Impact of Users’ Cognitive Style and Browsing Experience on Their Disorientation Levels during Web Interaction

The present study aimed to investigate the impact of users’ verbal, imagery and bimodal cognitive style, and browsing experience on their disorientation level during web browsing. In order to extract the data obtained from users’ transaction files, a hybrid approach, including the content analysis method and the think-aloud technique, was utilized. The statistical population in this study included all of the undergraduate students at Shiraz University, and the sample consisted of 90 voluntary undergraduate students. According to the results, no significant difference was observed among the cognitive styles as far as disorientation level was concerned. However, novice users experienced higher levels of disorientation in comparison with experienced users. In addition, it was observed that there is a significant difference between the users who had different levels of experience and cognitive styles in terms of disorientation in browsing. The verbal and novice users also experienced higher levels of disorientation compared to the verbal and experienced users. Due to the limited understanding of the role which cognitive style plays in guiding users during web browsing, the results of the present study appeared to be useful in providing a better understanding of the factors influencing the users’ performance in browsing process and thereby the need to consider them in user modeling and training.