Can Icons Outperform Text? Understanding the Role of Pictograms in OHMD Notifications

Nuwan Janaka; Shengdong Zhao; Shardul Sapkota

doi:10.1145/3544548.3580891

Can Icons Outperform Text? Understanding the Role of Pictograms in OHMD Notifications

Nuwan Janaka, Shengdong Zhao, Shardul Sapkota

Research output: Chapters, Conference Papers, Creative and Literary Works › RGC 32 - Refereed conference paper (with host publication) › peer-review

21 Citations (Scopus)

59 Downloads (CityUHK Scholars)

Abstract

Optical see-through head-mounted displays (OHMDs) can provide just-in-time digital assistance to users while they are engaged in ongoing tasks. However, given users' limited attentional resources when multitasking, there is a need to concisely and accurately present information in OHMDs. Existing approaches for digital information presentation involve using either text or pictograms. While pictograms have enabled rapid recognition and easier use in warning messages and traffic signs, most studies using pictograms for digital notifications have exhibited unfavorable results. We thus conducted a series of four iterative studies to understand how we can support effective notification presentation on OHMDs during multitasking scenarios. We find that while icon-augmented notifications can outperform text-only notifications, their effectiveness depends on icon familiarity, encoding density, and environmental brightness. We reveal design implications when using icon-augmented notifications in OHMDs and present plausible reasons for the observed disparity in literature. © 2023 Owner/Author.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	CHI'23 - Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Place of Publication	New York, NY
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery
ISBN (Print)	9781450394215
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3580891
Publication status	Published - 2023
Externally published	Yes
Event	2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’23): reCHInnecting - Hybrid, Hamburg, Germany Duration: 23 Apr 2023 → 28 Apr 2023 https://dl.acm.org/doi/proceedings/10.1145/3544548 https://chi2023.acm.org/

Publication series

Name	Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings

Conference

Conference	2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’23)
Abbreviated title	CHI 2023
Place	Germany
City	Hamburg
Period	23/04/23 → 28/04/23
Internet address	https://dl.acm.org/doi/proceedings/10.1145/3544548 https://chi2023.acm.org/

Research Keywords

distraction
icon
interruption
notification
OHMD
OST HMD
pictogram
smart glasses

Publisher's Copyright Statement

This full text is made available under CC-BY 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Access Output

10.1145/3544548.3580891

190024138.pdfFinal Published version, 7.9 MBLicence: CC BY

Other Access Options

Check CityUHK Library

Permanent Link

Right click to copy link

Cite this

Janaka, N., Zhao, S., & Sapkota, S. (2023). Can Icons Outperform Text? Understanding the Role of Pictograms in OHMD Notifications. In CHI'23 - Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Article 575 (Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3580891

@inproceedings{46d8d78eea0a411092cbe5efc2de73e7,

title = "Can Icons Outperform Text? Understanding the Role of Pictograms in OHMD Notifications",

abstract = "Optical see-through head-mounted displays (OHMDs) can provide just-in-time digital assistance to users while they are engaged in ongoing tasks. However, given users' limited attentional resources when multitasking, there is a need to concisely and accurately present information in OHMDs. Existing approaches for digital information presentation involve using either text or pictograms. While pictograms have enabled rapid recognition and easier use in warning messages and traffic signs, most studies using pictograms for digital notifications have exhibited unfavorable results. We thus conducted a series of four iterative studies to understand how we can support effective notification presentation on OHMDs during multitasking scenarios. We find that while icon-augmented notifications can outperform text-only notifications, their effectiveness depends on icon familiarity, encoding density, and environmental brightness. We reveal design implications when using icon-augmented notifications in OHMDs and present plausible reasons for the observed disparity in literature. {\textcopyright} 2023 Owner/Author.",

keywords = "distraction, icon, interruption, notification, OHMD, OST HMD, pictogram, smart glasses",

author = "Nuwan Janaka and Shengdong Zhao and Shardul Sapkota",

year = "2023",

doi = "10.1145/3544548.3580891",

language = "English",

isbn = "9781450394215",

series = "Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings",

publisher = "Association for Computing Machinery",

booktitle = "CHI'23 - Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems",

address = "United States",

note = "2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI {\textquoteright}23) : reCHInnecting, CHI 2023 ; Conference date: 23-04-2023 Through 28-04-2023",

url = "https://dl.acm.org/doi/proceedings/10.1145/3544548, https://chi2023.acm.org/",

}

Janaka, N, Zhao, S & Sapkota, S 2023, Can Icons Outperform Text? Understanding the Role of Pictograms in OHMD Notifications. in CHI'23 - Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems., 575, Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings, Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’23), Hamburg, Germany, 23/04/23. https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3580891

Can Icons Outperform Text? Understanding the Role of Pictograms in OHMD Notifications. / Janaka, Nuwan; Zhao, Shengdong; Sapkota, Shardul.
CHI'23 - Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. New York, NY: Association for Computing Machinery, 2023. 575 (Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings).

Research output: Chapters, Conference Papers, Creative and Literary Works › RGC 32 - Refereed conference paper (with host publication) › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - Can Icons Outperform Text? Understanding the Role of Pictograms in OHMD Notifications

AU - Janaka, Nuwan

AU - Zhao, Shengdong

AU - Sapkota, Shardul

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Optical see-through head-mounted displays (OHMDs) can provide just-in-time digital assistance to users while they are engaged in ongoing tasks. However, given users' limited attentional resources when multitasking, there is a need to concisely and accurately present information in OHMDs. Existing approaches for digital information presentation involve using either text or pictograms. While pictograms have enabled rapid recognition and easier use in warning messages and traffic signs, most studies using pictograms for digital notifications have exhibited unfavorable results. We thus conducted a series of four iterative studies to understand how we can support effective notification presentation on OHMDs during multitasking scenarios. We find that while icon-augmented notifications can outperform text-only notifications, their effectiveness depends on icon familiarity, encoding density, and environmental brightness. We reveal design implications when using icon-augmented notifications in OHMDs and present plausible reasons for the observed disparity in literature. © 2023 Owner/Author.

AB - Optical see-through head-mounted displays (OHMDs) can provide just-in-time digital assistance to users while they are engaged in ongoing tasks. However, given users' limited attentional resources when multitasking, there is a need to concisely and accurately present information in OHMDs. Existing approaches for digital information presentation involve using either text or pictograms. While pictograms have enabled rapid recognition and easier use in warning messages and traffic signs, most studies using pictograms for digital notifications have exhibited unfavorable results. We thus conducted a series of four iterative studies to understand how we can support effective notification presentation on OHMDs during multitasking scenarios. We find that while icon-augmented notifications can outperform text-only notifications, their effectiveness depends on icon familiarity, encoding density, and environmental brightness. We reveal design implications when using icon-augmented notifications in OHMDs and present plausible reasons for the observed disparity in literature. © 2023 Owner/Author.

KW - distraction

KW - icon

KW - interruption

KW - notification

KW - OHMD

KW - OST HMD

KW - pictogram

KW - smart glasses

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85158111055&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.scopus.com/record/pubmetrics.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85158111055&origin=recordpage

U2 - 10.1145/3544548.3580891

DO - 10.1145/3544548.3580891

M3 - RGC 32 - Refereed conference paper (with host publication)

SN - 9781450394215

T3 - Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings

BT - CHI'23 - Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

PB - Association for Computing Machinery

CY - New York, NY

T2 - 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’23)

Y2 - 23 April 2023 through 28 April 2023

ER -

Janaka N, Zhao S, Sapkota S. Can Icons Outperform Text? Understanding the Role of Pictograms in OHMD Notifications. In CHI'23 - Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. New York, NY: Association for Computing Machinery. 2023. 575. (Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings). Epub 2023 Apr 19. doi: 10.1145/3544548.3580891

Can Icons Outperform Text? Understanding the Role of Pictograms in OHMD Notifications

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Research Keywords

Publisher's Copyright Statement

Access Output

Other Access Options

Permanent Link

Other Files and Links

Fingerprint

Cite this