IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jamest/v42y1991i3p185-196.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Modeling the intermittent user of word processing technology

Author

Listed:
  • Radhika Santhanam
  • Susan Wiedenbeck

Abstract

There exists a large and growing population of noncomputer professionals utilizing wordprocessing software on personal computers. Noncomputer professional users of word processing technology are sometimes referred to as intermittent users. The purpose of this research was to understand the word processing characteristics and needs of this important group of users. We developed a model that describes their word processing performance and carried out two controlled experiments. We found that intermittent users behave like experts when executing a very small set of routine tasks but tend to be quite novice‐like in most other tasks. Their editing behavior can be described as nonoptimal and relatively stable. Help systems and interface design are important factors of word processing technology that improve the performance of intermittent users. Our study indicates that intermittent users prefer and perform better with a menu‐driven interface. In addition, we found that even a rudimentary help system can be a great aid to the intermittent user. © 1991 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Suggested Citation

  • Radhika Santhanam & Susan Wiedenbeck, 1991. "Modeling the intermittent user of word processing technology," Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 42(3), pages 185-196, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jamest:v:42:y:1991:i:3:p:185-196
    DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-4571(199104)42:33.0.CO;2-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-4571(199104)42:33.0.CO;2-2
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/(SICI)1097-4571(199104)42:33.0.CO;2-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jamest:v:42:y:1991:i:3:p:185-196. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.asis.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.