Analysis of Situation Map User Cognitive Characteristics Based on Eye Movement Data

Abstract

AbstractA situation map shows the dynamic changes of the environment within a specific space and time in the form of graphics, which can help users effectively understand the current situation and predict the future situation from multi-dimensional and massive information. It is an essential tool for users to make decisions in a complex information system. However, the current situation map interface has some problems, such as poor visibility, difficulty in interaction, etc., which has a particular impact on the user’s performance of situation awareness and the efficiency in completing tasks.In order to improve the current problems of the situation map interface, this study hopes to optimize the design of the situation map interface based on the cognitive characteristics of users. A large number of eye movement data of users in the situation map were collected and analyzed to. After analyzing the time series data of eye movement coordinates, the duration of fixation point entering the target area of interest (AOI) for the first time, eye movement speed and other eye movement characteristic indicators, as well as the scanning path chart, it is concluded that the differences of users’ eye movement behaviors were mainly manifested in three aspects. They are the differences in visual search strategy, target positioning speed and accuracy, and decision-making speed and accuracy.Then, according to the differences in cognitive characteristics such as attention distribution mechanism and information processing efficiency reflected by the differences in users’ eye movement behaviors, the cognitive types of users are summarized as blind cognition, purpose cognition, learning cognition, and memory cognition. Based on the characteristics of the above four cognitive types, the situation map design elements are extracted and sorted out as the criteria for subsequent interface optimization. The optimization design scheme of the interface elements of the situation map is proposed to help users improve their situation awareness level, information identification efficiency, and task operation efficiency.KeywordsSituation mapEye movementUser’s cognition