Graphical Instructions for Procedures Involving Material Flow
Zachary H. Pugh, Douglas J. Gillan · Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting · 2018
Certain tasks, such as cooking and chemistry lab work, involve the transformation, combination, and separation of materials. Because these tasks are concerned with material flow, they can be represented using a type of formal diagram commonly used in chemistry and biology to represent chemical reaction pathways. A unique feature of this notation is its graphical depiction of changes in partonomy—how certain materials combine to form a single product, or how a material is decomposed into multiple products. In the present study, participants performed a series of abstract object transformation tasks in a virtual laboratory according to different instruction formats (text, semi diagram, full diagram). Each participant tested the three formats, each with one of three unique tasks. Differences in viewing time address whether the graphical depiction of partonomic change is advantageous for the user.