Effectiveness and Preferences of Anthropomorphic User Interface Feedback in a PC Building Context and Cognitive Load

This paper describes an experiment and its results concerning research that has been going on for a number of years in the area of anthropomorphic user interface feedback. The main aims of the research have been to examine the effectiveness and user satisfaction of anthropomorphic feedback in various domains. The results are of use to all interactive systems designers, particularly when dealing with issues of user interface feedback design. Currently the work in the area of anthropomorphic feedback does not have any global conclusions concerning its effectiveness and user satisfaction capabilities. This research is investigating finding a way for reaching some global conclusions concerning this type of feedback. The experiment detailed, concerns the specific software domain of software for in-depth learning in the specific context of PC building. Anthropomorphic feedback was compared against an equivalent non-anthropomorphic feedback. The results were not statistically significant to suggest one type of feedback was better than the other. It was also the aim to examine the types of feedback in relation to Cognitive Load Theory. The results suggest that the feedback types did not negatively affect Cognitive Load.