Hypertext technology in information design

The initial stages in an examination of how hypertext technology can facilitate effective use of text and language in an industrial design project are described. Specifically, the effects of using hypertext both for exploring one's own design ideas in an online design notebook, and for exploring other people's design ideas in such a notebook (a situation that might come up in collaborative work) are compared. In the first phase, twelve participants completed two types of text-based activities under two conditions, i.e., once using hard-copy notes they had created and maintained themselves, and once using hard-copy notes created by someone else. Analysis of the resulting data points to a significant difference between participants' success, in terms of both accuracy and speed, in finding factual information in their own reference material versus finding factual information in reference material compiled by someone else. These results provide baseline data for the planned second stage of the study.