Citation

Bisantz AM, Stone RT, Pfautz J, Fouse A, Farry M, Roth E, Nagy AL, Thomas G. J. Cogn. Eng. Decis. Mak. 2009; 3(1): 67-91.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1518/155534309X433726

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

We conducted two studies that investigated display characteristics related to color (hue, saturation, brightness, and transparency) and contrast with a background for displaying information qualifiers (termed meta-information) such as uncertainty, age, and source quality. Level of detail (or granularity) of the meta-information and task demands were also manipulated. Participants were asked to rank and rate colored regions overlaid on different map backgrounds based on the level of meta-information the regions displayed. Results from Study 1 indicated that participants could appropriately rank and rate levels of meta-information across saturation, brightness, and transparency conditions, and results from Study 1 and Study 2 showed that the natural direction of ordering is complex and dependent on the relevance of different information to the task and the contrast of the overlay region with the background.