The Effects of Conceptual and Logical Interfaces on Visual Query Performance of End Users

To the end users, the interface is the system. A better interface not only facilitates end user interaction with the database, it also enables them to formulate queries more efficiently and effectively. Two of the most important user-database interfaces are the conceptual and logical interfaces. With the conceptual interface, the user communicates with tile database system in terms ofentities, objects and relationships. On the other hand, the current user-database interaction is mainly based on the logical interface where the user expresses the queries in terms of relations and join operations. Because the concepts at the logical iliterface are abstract and convoluted to ordinary users, many researchers argue that end users will be better off with the conceptual interface. This research will test this claim by comparing the effects ofconceptual and logical interfaces on the visual query performance of end users. 'Ihe experimental study involves three tests: an initial test, a retention test and a relearning test. This allows us to assess the learning effect over time. 1[he results show that users of the conceptual interface achieve higher acc Iracy, are more confident in their answers, and spend less time on the queries than users of the logical interface in all three tests. 1. INTRODUCTI()N elements. This is exemplified by the relational database interface '(Hawryszkiewycz 1990; Navathe 1992). There are no physical Databases are vital organizational resources. They contain pointers or physical files and the order of the columns and rows information that is necessary for the functioning and survival of is not important. However, the user knows that by joining organizations. However, to fully utilize these resources, users relations based on certain fields, it is possible to specify relationhave to be able to retrieve the data efficiently and effectively. The ships thal at the physical level are represented by physical user-database interface is the key to the success of this process. pointers. In fact, it is common to refer to the joins as the logical A better interface increases the productivity of the users by pointers. allowing them to interact with the database system more efficiently and effectively(Chamberlain 1980). Gerlach and Kuo At the conceptual level, the database is supposed to know the (1991) also stressed that end-user productivity is tied directly to user's world, in terms of entities and relationships. There are no functionality and ease of learning and use of the interface. logical pointers for the user to trace. If the user wants to specify a relationship, he may express it in a natural and straightforward User-database interface can be broadly classified into the manner such as "where supplier supplies part" rather than "where conceptual, logical, and physical interfaces. The physical supplier.sno=sp.stioandsp. pno=partpno. " Data models suitable interface is the lowest level while the conceptual interface is the for this level of interaction are the entity relationship (ER) model highest. At the lowest level, the user is required to know the (Chen 1976; Navathe 1992) and the object-oriented (00) model details of the data structures in the computer memory. An (Kim 1990; Elmasri and Navathe 1989). example of such an interface is assembly language. When using the logical interface, the user is required to know the layout of the The current user-database interaction is mainly based on the logical data and the possible relationships among the data relational interface, which is a logical interface, where the user