Users often struggle to locate an item within an information architecture, particularly when links are ambiguous or deeply nested in hierarchies. Information scent has been used to explain why users select incorrect links, but this concept assumes that users see all available links before deciding. In practice, users frequently select a link too quickly, overlook relevant cues, and then rely on backtracking when errors occur. We extend the concept of information scent by framing navigation as a sequential decision-making problem under memory constraints. Specifically, we assume that users do not scan entire pages but instead inspect strategically, looking "just enough" to find the target given their time budget. To choose which item to inspect next, they consider both local (this page) and global (site) scent; however, both are constrained by memory. Trying to avoid wasting time, they occasionally choose the wrong links without inspecting everything on a page. Comparisons with empirical data show that our model replicates key navigation behaviors: premature selections, wrong turns, and recovery from backtracking. We conclude that trial-and-error behavior is well explained by information scent when accounting for the sequential and bounded characteristics of the navigation problem.

翻译：用户常常难以在信息架构中定位目标项，尤其是在链接表述模糊或深嵌于层级结构时。信息素概念常被用于解释用户为何选择错误链接，但该概念默认用户在决策前会浏览所有可用链接。实际上，用户经常过快地选择链接，忽略相关线索，并在出现错误时依赖回溯操作。本文通过将导航问题重构为记忆约束下的序列决策问题，拓展了信息素的理论框架。具体而言，我们假设用户不会完整扫描页面内容，而是根据时间预算进行策略性检视——仅寻找"足够"的线索来定位目标。在选择下一个检视项时，用户会综合考虑局部（当前页面）与全局（站点）信息素，但两者均受记忆能力制约。为避免时间浪费，用户偶尔会在未检视页面全部内容的情况下选择错误链接。与实证数据的对比表明，我们的模型能复现关键导航行为：过早选择、错误转向以及通过回溯实现的路径恢复。研究结论表明：当考虑导航问题的序列性与有限性特征时，试错行为可通过信息素理论得到合理解释。