Indian Users' Expectations for the Location of Web Objects on Informational Websites

Abstract

Previous research has established that users form mental models of web page layout. Bernard (2001, 2002) demonstrated that users expect web objects to be located in specific places on a web page. Further research has attempted to evaluate users' expectations on a global level (Bernard & Sheshadri, 2004). Th3 study discussed in this paper used a similar methodology on students at an Indian university in Mumbai in order to determine the structure of the Indian user's mental model for web page layout. India is one of the fastest growing Internet user markets in the world. With a predicted 100 million users by 2007, it is essential to get a better understanding of the Indian user. This paper graphically identifies the expected location of five web objects (back to home link, about us link, site search engine, internal links, and advertisements) commonly found on informational websites. Suggestions for overall page layout are also provided.

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