However, in the individual sense, some people may perceive the MS-DOS interface to be easier to use because of their own unique experiences and attributes. User interface dimensions may be highly correlated with how well users enjoy using a specific program. Whether users like a program may be more or less important, depending on the intent of the program and the context for its use. Certainly, not liking an interactive program that is intended to be highly motivating is a major problem, whereas users' affect for a program may be less important in a training context in which strong extrinsic motivational factors exist. Figure 2 illustrates a dimension of interactive multimedia ranging from the perception that a program is difficult to navigate to one that is perceived as being easy to navigate.
Designers use several ways of supporting navigation and maintaining orientation.
Using an interactive program requires different mental efforts than performing tasks via print or other media. To use interactive programs, users must perceive options, conceptualize a choice, and make some physical action, all while mentally coordinating the demands of these three cognitive loads. The user interface is the vehicle that allows perceptual, conceptual, and physical contacts with the interactive program. Learners acquire and structure information delivered via interfaces, conduct mental operations, and accomplish physical activities during their interactions with interactive multimedia. The limited capacity of working memory to hold only five to nine chunks of information simultaneously makes it difficult for users of complexity structured programs to reason when numerous cognitive load factors must be handled simultaneously.