Going back in hypertext

Abstract

Hypertext interfaces typically involve navigation, the act (and interaction) of moving from one piece of information to another. Navigation can be exploratory, or it may involve backtracking to some previously-visited node. While backtracking interfaces are common, they may not reflect differences in readers' purposes and mental models. This paper draws on some empirical evidence regarding navigation within documents to suggest an improvement on traditional hypertext navigation, and proposes a time-based model of backtracking.