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The purpose of this study is to explore the possibility of multimodal trivariate thematic maps by utilizing auditory and haptic displays. With two different modes of display (color only displays and multimodal displays with color, audio, and haptic), the completion time of tasks and the recall (retention) rate were measured in two separate experiments. In terms of the completion time, with minimal learning experience, participants could accomplish the tasks at the same level of speed in both modes. For the recall rate, multimodal displays have much higher recall rates. It is speculated that the natural quantitative hierarchies in auditory and haptic displays provide an advantage in the use of multimodal displays. These findings confirmed the possibility of using auditory and haptic displays in visually dominant geographic information systems (GIS) for multi-variate thematic maps.

The GovStat Statistical Interactive Glossary (SIG) is designed to allow users of government statistical websites to consult definitions of statistical terms while continuing their current task of browsing statistical websites. In this paper,we present results from two studies of the SIG that evaluated the effectiveness of the SIG presentations. We specifically focus on two areas: the effects of three presentation formats (text only, graphics + text, animation + text) on user performance and preferences, and the effects of three levels of controls for animations on user performance and preferences. Our findings have implications for designers of just-in-time help, as well as raising questions for future research.