Modeling Trial-and-Error Navigation With a Sequential Decision Model of Information Scent

TL;DR

This paper models user navigation as a sequential decision process under memory constraints, explaining trial-and-error behaviors like premature link selection and backtracking through an extended information scent framework.

Contribution

It introduces a new sequential decision model of information scent that accounts for memory limitations and real-world navigation behaviors.

Findings

Model replicates key navigation behaviors

Explains premature link selection and backtracking

Aligns with empirical navigation data

Abstract

Users often struggle to locate an item within an information architecture, particularly when links are ambiguous or deeply nested in hierarchies. Information scent has been used to explain why users select incorrect links, but this concept assumes that users see all available links before deciding. In practice, users frequently select a link too quickly, overlook relevant cues, and then rely on backtracking when errors occur. We extend the concept of information scent by framing navigation as a sequential decision-making problem under memory constraints. Specifically, we assume that users do not scan entire pages but instead inspect strategically, looking "just enough" to find the target given their time budget. To choose which item to inspect next, they consider both local (this page) and global (site) scent; however, both are constrained by memory. Trying to avoid wasting time, they occasionally choose the wrong links without inspecting everything on a page. Comparisons with empirical data show that our model replicates key navigation behaviors: premature selections, wrong turns, and recovery from backtracking. We conclude that trial-and-error behavior is well explained by information scent when accounting for the sequential and bounded characteristics of the navigation problem.