An Investigation into the Validation of Formalised Cognitive Dimensions

The cognitive dimensions framework is a conceptual framework aimed at characterising features of interactive systems that are strongly influen­ tial upon their effective use. As such the framework facilitates the critical as­ sessment and design of a wide variety of information artifacts. Although the framework has proved to be of considerable interest to researchers and practi­ tioners, there has been little research examining how easily the dimensions used by it can be consistently applied. The work reported in this paper addresses this problem by examining an approach to the systematic application of dimensions and assessing its success empirically. The findings demonstrate a relatively successful approach to validating the systematic application of some concepts found in the cognitive dimensions framework. Key words: Cognitive Dimensions Framework, Theory validation, Empirical methods.