Is the chartplotter on your dash easy to use? Your response may have as much to do with how you process information as the manufacturer's specs. Some units will match your sense of order, while others will leave you scratching your head.

Which brand is the best one for you? That can be a tough question to answer, and most people don't find out until long after they've purchased their electronics package. That's too bad, because once you have Brand X at the helm you have missed the chance to discover that your brain actually finds Brand Z far more intuitive.

Most of us deal with this problem by asking as many people as we can about different units prior to purchase. We'll spend hours at staring at screens in marine supply stores, interrogate our boating buddies about what they like, read articles and Google "easy to use chartplotter" night after night. Then we make a choice and spend the next three years trying to figure out how to use the darn thing.

Does choosing marine electronics really have to be such a shot in the dark?

LENNY RUDOWTest-subject JP Howard works his way through the units, one at a time.It wouldn't be, if we had some way to test ourselves and find out which menu systems, screens and keypad layouts fit us best as individuals. Of course, it might take years of research to design such a test. But could we at least narrow the field and gain some insights using an existing test, something already out there? Maybe.

To find out, we mounted five different chartplotters side-by-side and timed 15 boaters as they tried to figure out how to use each one. Then our test subjects subjected themselves to a test about how they process information – the whole "left brain, right brain" argument – and we matched up the results.

What emerged are some useful insights into how people use equipment, including some hints at why features like a touchscreen or programmable "soft keys" may or may not be a match for you. Read this and learn something new.

GRAY MATTERS

First, a few basics about your brain. The theory known as "hemispheric dominance" is accepted by most scientists, professors and researchers as the most accurate way to explain how different people process information in different ways. Hemispheric dominance is a matter of how you think things through, and individuals tend to process information differently if they're "left brain dominant" or "right brain dominant."

In general, left-brained people focus on logical thinking, analysis and accuracy. Right-brainers tend to lean more toward aesthetics, feelings and creativity. (To learn more about left versus right, see the table attached).

This is different than being left-handed versus right-handed, and it's not set in stone. In fact, there are plenty of brain "exercises" you can do to strengthen one side of the brain or the other. Some people are even considered "whole-brained" because neither hemisphere dominates.

Of course, most people go through the day without consciously considering left- versus right-dominated thought, even as it determines what mode of thinking they'll use when doing something like, say, setting a waypoint on a chartplotter screen. Yet if that specific way of thinking matches up best with that chartplotter's menu structure, and if we can predict this by figuring out what type of brain dominance an individual has, choosing the right plotter for that person might become a whole lot easier.

OUR TEST

To determine how each test subject's brain would interact with different types of chart plotters, we developed a series of simple tasks for each person to do with each unit. First, they would create a waypoint. Second, they would navigate to that waypoint. Third, they would erase the waypoint. Fourth, they would change into a different screen mode. And fifth, they would change back to the initial map screen mode.

Simple enough, yet these tasks would require the person to work through the menu structure and button layout of each unit. To be sure that people didn't become familiar with commonalities in the units, each time a new person started the process they went through the units in a different order. Test subjects were timed with a stopwatch as they performed each function, to determine how easy or difficult they found it. A limit of one minute for each function was observed, to prevent skewing the results in case someone had a particularly difficult time with one specific function, became confused or was otherwise unable to complete the task.

To keep the playing field level, our test units had to meet one simple prerequisite, using the same major factor that you and I would if we were purchasing a new chartplotter: cost. In order to be included in this test they had to be priced under $1,500. Unfortunately, this eliminated some electronics manufacturers from the running. But we still came up with a full field of contestants, as follows in alphabetical order: Garmin GPSMAP 640, Interphase ChartMaster iPro, Lowrance HDS 7, Raymarine A50D and Standard Horizon CPD300i. (For more on each, The Contestants).

Our test pool of 15 subjects came from a wide variety of backgrounds – from carpenters to lawyers to salesmen – and included both men and women. They varied in age, as well. They shared just one thing in common: all were boaters. In a few cases, they owned a unit from one of the manufacturers in the test. To keep from skewing the results due to familiarity in those cases, we skipped that manufacturer's unit, and the scores for the skipped units were replaced with the overall averages for that unit.

After performing the functions on each unit, the participants were given a 54-question Brain Type Test to determine if they were left or right brain dominant. The test is free and available to anyone online, at www.testcafe.com.

THE WINNERS

Here are the left dominant versus right dominant results, given in average number of seconds needed to complete the five functions:

All times shown in seconds.A quick glance at the results makes several things amazingly clear. Surprisingly, without exception, right-brainers were faster than left-brainers at figuring any of these chartplotters out. Considering the traits of lefties versus righties, it would seem that this is telling us something we boaters have long suspected: the way chartplotter menus and buttons are laid out basically makes no sense. It's not very logical, nor is it linier. The symbols don't always compute to the human cerebrum, and the machines certainly don't communicate with us verbally.

Aside from these generalizations, some specific conclusions about the different manufacturers can also be drawn. The Lowrance was clearly the most intuitive system, while our participants found Raymarine the most time-consuming. But Raymarine also showed the smallest spread between left and right brain thinkers, with just 8 seconds separating the two groups. The next-nearest spread was 14 seconds for the Lowrance.

TOUCHSCREEN, COMPASS AND 'SOFT KEYS'

Some other very interesting lessons also popped up during testing, even though they didn't necessarily relate directly to brain types. Three of our participants found the Garmin easiest to use largely because of the touch-screen. In fact, they sometimes poked at the other unit's screens in an attempt to use them as touch-screens, before resorting to the buttons. One of the three was a leftie, two were righties. Yet one trait tied them all together: these were the youngest people in the test, in their 20's or early 30's. Youthful boaters clearly found the touch-screen interface more intuitive.

Another interesting note – again, age was the commonality – came up during the transition from the "set a waypoint" stage to the "navigate to the waypoint" stage. Several of the units displayed the position of the waypoint and a compass course to reach it, as soon as the point was established. Several boaters over 50 looked at the waypoint and noted that they could navigate right to it because of the compass course. When it was time to actually go somewhere, these people were inclined to simply switch their attention to the compass, rather than call up a navigation screen. By contrast, younger boaters went through the process as expected, regardless of which unit they were using.

So if you fall into this over-50 age group and share this inclination, you might want to make sure that the chartplotter you pick does in fact display a compass course as soon as you set in a waypoint. It may not be the way those manufacturers intended for you to navigate, but it will make your life easier – so why not plan ahead for it?

LENNY RUDOWSoft Keys along the bottom of the unit were often confusing, causing several participants to time-out.The final issue that came up many times was the use of "soft keys" along the bottom of the unit. The function of these keys often changes depending on what charting mode or page you have entered. In many cases the keys are programmable, offering the user the ability to customize the key functions as he or she scrolls through different pages.

During our test, however, the use of that second row of keys served only to confuse the operator. On five separate occasions when people timed-out because they were unable to complete a function, it was because they started switching back and forth between the soft keys and the main keypad. This caused lots of confusion, and people (both left and right brainers) became mired deep inside menus they had no desire to enter in the first place.

It could easily be argued that the programmability of these keys and their use in general is a feature that users can only take advantage of with time and experience. Sure it's confusing at first, but in the long run might these keys save you time? Perhaps. But our test subjects were regularly confused by the ever-changing functionality of these soft keys. Plus, I've never observed nor spoken with anyone who's actually taken the time to custom-program them. Have you? Note that three out of the five units in this test had soft keys, and these were the three units with the worst time scores. Coincidence?

CONCLUSIONS

So, if you take one of these brain tests, can you choose a more intuitive unit based on the results? Not exactly.

But we did make a lot of interesting discoveries about how our brains interact with chartplotters, and we were able to figure out which of these units were the most intuitive use regardless of brain type. We also discovered some specific features that may or may not appeal to you, based on your age and usage.

Finally, we found that left brain dominant people may have a tougher time figuring these things out. If you're a leftie, give that right lobe some exercise by singing, painting, writing poetry, drawing, and playing strategy games that force you to think out multiple tasks simultaneously. You might have an easier time using your electronics, no matter who manufactured it. Or, you can yield to that left brain thinking of yours and choose a unit like the Lowrance or the Garmin, which seem to be more intuitive to use, and shun extra features that add complexity.

Either way, if your head and your head unit are navigating in harmony, you may find it easier to get the boat pointing in the right direction.