Some Performance Correlates of Technical Illustration Level

Abstract

This paper reports preliminary results from a pilot experiment to assess how levels of illustration affect the performance of persons who require technical documentation in order to solve a problem. Fifteen inexperienced undergraduates used an oscilloscope and a volt-ohmmeter to check out and troubleshoot the printed circuit board of an electronically— triggered oscilloscope camera. Each subject solved three similar problems, guided by a “core path” of textual procedures that remained constant while the level of illustration was changed from one problem to the next. Time and error data both showed a large effect (roughly a factor of 2 times “experienced” levels) for the interaction of illustration level and experience on the problem. While these illustration levels had little effect on how much time subjects spent visually consulting the illustrations themselves, there were effects on time spent doing other components of the task.