Comparison of minimum safe and more complex displays on an electronic chart

Abstract

The Electronic Chart Display and Information System allows the mariner to navigate and track the course of his ship using information from an electronic chart. The effects of information quantity on user performance was investigated by asking nine users navigation questions on a simple and complex electronic chart and a paper chart. Results show that users responded more quickly using the simple electronic chart compared to the paper chart when exhaustive search was required, and that performance depended on the type of question. Comments from participants indicated that the simple display was easier to use because of less clutter than the more complex electronic chart and paper chart, but electronic charts were more difficult to read than the paper chart.