Deriving Menu Structures through Modal Block Clustering: A Promising Alternative to Hierarchical Techniques

Modal block clustering (MBC) is proposed as an approach more suited to the derivation of menu structures than hierarchical clustering techniques. Problems with the application of hierarchical techniques and pairwise similarity ratings (PWSR) from which the clusters are derived are discussed. MBC defines clusters based on the pattern of common command attributes and provides an objective way to determine the composition and number of menu panels to include in a menu structure. The method also objectively defines command redundancy for the menu panels. The method of MBC was applied to the 97 commands that comprise the CMS operating system resulting in 17 menu categories. The menu categories were used to design a help menu system. The MBC procedure provides a viable methodology for complex systems, such as CMS, which derive increased functionality from numerous command options. System designers can fruitfully and efficiently apply this methodology both to current systems and to proposed systems for which there are no expert users.