Visual search enables direct access to functions. It is applicable to selection from small sets of fixed items. For occasional searching, it should be limited to three to seven items. For repetitive searching, it may be extended to 30-70 items.
Interactive search is suited to the limitations of the working memory. It is best when the search is from large sets of variable data.
Static information in monitoring and supervision screens should be distributed in a broad-shallow arrangement, preferably in an all-at-once screen to enable visual search
Apply indexing and keyword search to dynamic information and to filtered information, such as by queries
The information in problem-solving and emergency screens should be distributed in a narrow-deep arrangement.
Updated on 29 Feb 2016.