Windows 95 Menu Styles:
Windows Explorer vs. My Computer

Conclusions

Impact for practitioners

The results of our study have several impacts.  Designers of future versions of Windows might want to eliminate My Computer with cascading windows.  Subsequent discussions with subjects revealed that many subjects had not even been aware that they had the option of using My Computer with a single window before the experiment.  They had been using Cascading Windows because that was the default setting in Windows 95.

In the sense that clicking on a folder takes the user to a completely new view, the Single Window method works very much like a web browser, in which clicking on a link takes the user to a new page, and nothing of the parent's page can be seen.  As studies with web pages have shown, and according to Dr. Shneiderman's (1998) eight golden rules, a clearly labeled 'back' button so that actions are easily reversible would benefit this option greatly.  This could apply to web designers and menu designers, even automated telephone menu designers.
 

Future research should delve further into options that were selectable within all three of the menu types we tested.  For example, there are 4 different view options.  We already mentioned 'Large Icons' and 'List' in the Discussion section, but there are also 'Small Icons' and 'Details.'  Any one of these options may be ideal for different navigation methods.  For example, why does My Computer default to 'Large Icons' while Windows Explorer defaults to 'List'?  Also, does the size of the window help?  Different window sizes could be tested.  Different screen sizes could matter as well.  Perhaps the Cascading Windows won't seem to clutter so much screen space on a larger screen.  Does the presence of the toolbar help?  The toolbar contains a 'one level up' button that could prove very helpful in the My Computer with a Single Window method.  Also, if My Computer with Cascading Windows had more definite places where new windows would open up, that may make it easier to use.

With the release of Windows 98 last year, navigating through the directory tree can be done with a menu style that mimics Microsoft Internet Explorer.  A 'back,' 'forward,' and 'refresh' button exists on a toolbar at the top, and a preview section to the left gives the user a preview before the file is even opened.  Since we did not have Windows 98 at our disposal, this menu format was not tested.  Since this is the trend Microsoft seems to be headed, future researchers should definitely test it.

It also seemed that many subjects tried to get the tasks done as quickly as possible.  They knew the experiment would be timed, but we did not ever say that there would be a penalty or reward based on time.  Nevertheless, they hurried, and that may have affected the results.  We recommend not telling subjects that they are being timed.  Then they may not mind the extra information given to them.
 

We hypothesize that the speed with which subjects were able to navigate with a single window reflects the fact that information on a need-to-know basis may be the key to quick traversal in a complex structure.  In each window, only the absolute minimum is presented - that is, what is needed to move to the next subdirectory on the path.  When multiple windows or multiple levels of a tree are shown unnecessarily, such as with My Computer with Cascading Windows and Windows Explorer respectively, that slows users down.  We believe that the delay results in their having to scan more items in order to find the one they need.  With multiple windows, users often have to open each and see if that is the one they are looking for.  Even worse, Windows 95 does not seem to open the windows in any sort of logical order, leaving the user hunting randomly for the window they need.  In Windows Explorer, often the directory structure was too large to fit in the window, so users spent a lot of time scrolling vertically looking for the folder they needed.  However, some may simply like having more information.  Further testing would be required to support or refute this hypothesis.
 

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