GUI vs CUI: Individual personality types and the experience of learning to use library databases

Abstract

Some people have more problems than others in learning and using computer applications. The theory of personality type as developed by Myers and Briggs provides a model that could explain why this is so. The theory holds that if the working and learning situation matches the personality type preferences of the individual, then the experience will be more productive, more personally rewarding and less tiring. This is because the preferred and developed processes of the individual are called upon. This research, although very limited in scope, supports this view.A pilot project, conducted as part of the course work for a Graduate Diploma in Social Ecology assessed the compatability between the Personality Types of five participants and their learning to use a database with a Character User Interface (CUI) and one with a Graphic User Interface (GUI). All participants found it was much easier and less stressful to use the GUI than the CUI database when they were learning to use them.