Image-Based Icons: Effects of Object Recognition, Feature Recognition, and Visual Field for the Design of Learning Management Systems

Abstract

Schools and universities are increasing incorporating digital technology with their curriculum implementation through use of Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Desire2Learn (Blackboard), Canvas, and Schoolloop, just to name a few. With the rise of instructor-side customization options in the LMS, educators may not be experienced in designing features, such as button design. Yet, buttons are the most common point of interaction between a user and the interface, and buttons direct students to information on a specified page. Thus, research on effective and usable options for button design in an educational framework is needed to ensure that LMS interfaces are designed with the user’s performance and ease of use in mind. The present study examined visual search performance using a 3 (button type: image, text, image+text), x 2 (border style: rounded or squared), x 2 (screen size: laptop size or mobile size) within-subjects design. In general, results showed longer search times for text only buttons compared to image and image+text buttons, rounded square borders compared to square borders, and larger than smaller screen sizes. However, these overall effects were qualified by two-way interactions between button type x border style, and button type x screen size, where text buttons paired with square borders and large screen sizes resulted in worse performance. Although image+text buttons yielded similar performance to image only buttons, users preferred image+text buttons. Implications of these findings for design are discussed.

Keywords: image-based icons, educational design, object recognition, learning management system

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1004259