The amount of information presented at a single node should be consistent with the user's ability to readily navigate to the needed information.
Additional Information:
There are tradeoffs associated with node size. When the nodes are larger than the display screen, the user may have to scroll, pan, or zoom to view its information. However, when smaller nodes are used, information may be spread over multiple nodes requiring the use of multiple links to access required information. Limited guidance exists on the tradeoff between the demands of manipulating large nodes and accessing multiple nodes. The approach chosen should take into account such factors as the how navigation functions are implemented, the system's response to navigation inputs, and the ways in which links are defined. It should aim to reduce the cost to the user of accessing the information. For example, if scrolling the contents of a node involves a demanding motor task combined with visual search, users may prefer to access additional links to smaller nodes rather than being presented with a single large node. However, if a significant amount of time is needed to access each link, users may prefer fewer, larger nodes. Large nodes may also be acceptable if the system identifies the desired information within the node, rather than just displaying the beginning of the node.