Abstract
Hypermedia research has focused on information access as opposed to problem solving and decision making in organizations. This research study addresses hypermedia's support of decision making in three ways: (1) demonstrating an implemented computational hypermedia system to support decisions suitable for problem decomposition; (2) utilizing process tracing methods for unobtrusively observing cognitive uses of hypermedia, and (3) empirically investigating patterns of navigation utilized by decision makers with hypermedia support. A controlled laboratory investigation, including a preliminary pilot test, was conducted. Results comparing navigation patterns of decision makers using hypermedia support for problem reduction challenge some previously assumed beliefs about the utility of “drill down”; and other hypermedia problem reduction techniques. Extensions and implications of this study for organizational decision making and further research are discussed.