The effects of gender differences on the usability of automotive on-board navigation systems – A comparison of 2D and 3D display

This study integrated gender with the user interface of automotive on-board navigation systems to analyze whether gender differences or 2D (2 dimensional) vs. 3D (3 dimensional) display affect the interface usability of an on-board car navigation system (CNS). An experimental design was adopted for collecting data from three tasks – locating points, planning routes, and searching polygons – each emphasizing a different aspect of way-finding. The participants reported their subjective usability via the System Usability Scale after each trial. Study results show that gender, the CNS interface the subject used, and a combination of both predict the usability of an on-board CNS. This study’s results provide a clearer understanding of whether manufacturers should develop interfaces that fit a CNS 2D or 3D display based on gender.     

Multi‐Criteria Ratios: What is the Unit?

When Analytic Hierarchy Process ratios are normalized to sum to unity, the unit of measure becomes obscure. This paper investigates this obscurity and whether ratio measurement is possible when there is no prior knowledge of the measurement unit. Initially, we look at ratio scales of tangible attributes of objects with well‐known measures. Then, ratio scales of unknown intangible attributes of objects are analysed. We discover that natural zero and a specific unit of measure are not necessarily used explicitly in deriving ratio scale measures. Nevertheless, the derived scale does have a derived unit of measurement. We conclude that although composite multi‐criteria answers are possible in ratio form, it is important to know that a unit of measure exists if ambiguities are to be avoided. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.