Flowcharts used for procedural instructions

Includes bibliographical references (pages -#)An experimental study was conducted to evaluate two factors in the graphic structure of flowcharts used for a problem solving task. The two factors were the directional orientation of the flowchart and the number of alternatives leading from decision boxes. A third factor evaluated was problem complexity.\ud Sixty-four subjects were randomly assigned to eight experimental groups. Seven groups used variations of binary and multiple alternative flowcharts to solve problems. Binary flowcharts had two alternatives leading from decision boxes while multiple alternative flowcharts had three or four alternatives leading from decision boxes. The flowcharts also varied in directional orientation which was the direction in which the flowchart led the reader (left-to-right, top-to-bottom, right-to-left, and top-left-right-bottom). The eighth group used prose in paragraphs to solve problems. The subjects were required to solve 15 simple and 15 complex problems using the procedural instructions. The performance measures were the number of incorrect solutions to problems, the time used to view the formats, and the time used to solve problems. Two major conclusions were made: 1) Performance was best when the directional orientation of the flowchart was consistent with reading patterns. The best configurations for the graphic structure are either from left-to-right or from top-to-bottom. 2) The number of alternatives leading from decision boxes had no effect on performance