Transformation volatility and the Gateway model for Web page migration to small screen devices

Abstract

More people are using their smaller devices to access the Web. In this paper, we concentrate on the effect of migrating Web pages from large screened devices to small screened devices for users who use a Web site first on the larger screen and then use the same site on the small screen. We examine transformation volatility, including cognitive and navigational factors, related to the user experience while switching between devices for Web page use. A user 's cognitive volatility can be minimized by using a transformation method that both enables the user to reuse their existing mental model of a Web page first viewed on the large screen on the small screen and by decreasing the cognitive load required to comprehend the interface components. The navigational volatility relates to a user's expectation of how to navigate a new instance of a page on a different screen size and is influenced by changes to layout, content, location of options, and legibility. We propose a model for automatic transformation of Web pages called the Gateway that creates reduced replica of the source page. The Gateway transformation model minimizes the effect of transformation volatility for users switching between different screen sizes. Based on a subjective ranking of twenty-five randomly generated Gateways from original Web pages, twenty-two of the Gateway pages were ranked excellent or good. We examine the transformation volatility with three transformation models: direct, linear, and the Gateway.