Cognitive map‐based web site design: empirical analysis approach

Purpose – This study proposes a new approach to an adaptive web site design using the cognitive map (CM). Design/methodology/approach – The responses from 134 questionnaires were used in order to compute the causality coefficients of the CM objectively. In addition, using the evaluations of 64 college students with regard to three typical web sites, reference criteria were built that could be used by web site designers to determine the best web site design, given constraints and requirements. On the basis of the CM and two scenarios, a web site design simulation was performed. Findings – The results showed that the proposed approach could be used effectively to analyze web site design in an adaptive and practical manner when the market situation is constantly changing. Originality/value – The implications of this article will help decision makers predict the chain of effects that could result from changes in part of the web site design factors, before actually making those changes to a web site. Also, since the CM permits all related web site design factors to be viewed in a single interrelated diagram and organized into an adjacency matrix, decision makers can perform a number of what‐if simulations in accordance with changes in the intended design factors to see whether such changes would lead to maximal objectives (or target nodes).