Evaluating the Cognitive Aspects of User Interaction with 2D Visual Tagging Systems

Abstract

There has been significant interest in the development and deployment of visual tagging applications in recent times. But user perceptions about the purpose and function of visual tagging systems have not received much attention. This paper presents a user experience study that investigates the cognitive models that novice users have about interacting with visual tagging applications. The results of the study show that although most users are unfamiliar with visual tagging technologies, they could accurately predict the purpose and mode of retrieval of data stored in visual tags. The study concludes with suggestions on how to improve the recognition, ease of recall and design of visual tags.