Consideration for Cognitive Preferences to Enhance Effective HCI in Online Exhibits

Abstract

Clearly, giving consideration to online museum visitors’ cognitive differences challenges curators when planning their exhibits. There are interactive effects between the visitor’s cognitive preferences and the exhibit’s display format on the quality of the resulting human-computer interactions (HCI). The rapid growth of web-mediated technology extends the opportunity to fulfill exhibit facilitation. Although there is research that investigates individual cognitive differences for more traditional learning environments, the concept of online museum exhibits broadens the scope for further research. This paper discusses the interactive effects of cognitive preferences and online museum exhibits, to highlight the need for the consideration of individual cognitive differences when designing the HCI involved in online exhibits.