The Impact of Perceived Cognitive Effectiveness on Perceived Usefulness of Visual Conceptual Modeling Languages

Users’ perceptions and beliefs are relevant for the adoption of conceptual modeling languages in practice. This paper examines the relationship between user perception of the quality of a conceptual modeling language from a cognitive point of view and its perceived usefulness. The article builds on Moody’s framework of quality characteristics of visual modeling languages. By means of an empirical study with 198 user ratings of diagrams drawn with different modeling languages used in the e-learning domain, we provide evidence that users’ perception of criteria such as perceptual discriminability, graphic economy, a balanced combination of text and symbols, and semiotic clarity influence perceived usefulness of visual conceptual modeling languages. These findings and their implications for practice and research are discussed.