Interface Alternatives for Hypertexts

Abstract

This paper seeks to make explicit the ranges of design choices among which authors select whenever they create a particular hypertext. These choices are grouped into five categories: the links authors provide which influence the routes that readers can take within the text; the design features relating to the initiation of jumps within the hypertext; the visual characteristics of the destination of a jump; the navigation support that can be offered to readers; the design implications of the tasks that people will be trying to accomplish using the hypertext. It is suggested that the interface characteristics which are most helpful for hypertexts written as tutorials may differ from those design features which benefit users wishing to gain access through hypertexts to large (encyclopaedic) information sources, or hypertexts used by people as a means of personal information management. Although there is little evidence about which design features work best in which circumstances, an understanding of the range of interface options may help authors appreciate the tradeoffs they often have to make when designing hypertexts.