Effects of GSS interface and task type on group interaction: An empirical study
The effects of GSS interface and task type on group interaction are examined in this experimental study. A 2 X 2 factorial design is employed. Each treatment has eight groups. Two types of GSS interfaces are studied: icon-based and text-based. Two task types are investigated: intellective and preference. Three dependent variables are measured: efficiency of influence attempts, inequality of influence attempts, and dominance significance. Results of data analysis show that groups using icon-based interface achieve greater efficiency of influence attempts, greater equality of influence attempts, and less dominance significance than groups using text-based interface. Moreover, equality of influence attempts is greater for preference task groups than intellective task groups. These results suggest that an icon-based interface is a useful feature of a GSS, particularly when group members an novice computer users. GSS developers should, therefore, pay attention to interface design on top of the considerations for other GSS features. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.
task types group interaction group support systems user-interface