Research has shown that complex user interfaces create substantial barriers to application adoption among users. This challenge can be mitigated...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
Research has shown that complex user interfaces create substantial barriers to application adoption among users. This challenge can be mitigated through the creation of detailed instructional guides, however, the expense of producing these guides, despite fluctuating between different software products, stays predominantly _______ the level of user activity, therefore, teams producing instructional content will probably prioritize widely-used software over specialized applications.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
independent of
determined by
proportional to
derived from
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'Research has shown that complex user interfaces create substantial barriers to application adoption among users.' |
|
| 'This challenge can be mitigated through the creation of detailed instructional guides,' |
|
| 'however, the expense of producing these guides, despite fluctuating between different software products, stays predominantly' |
|
| 'the level of user activity,' |
|
| 'therefore, teams producing instructional content will probably prioritize widely-used software over specialized applications.' |
|
Provide Passage Architecture
Main Point: Although detailed guides can solve complex interface problems, the cost structure of creating guides leads teams to prioritize popular software over specialized applications.
Argument Flow: The passage establishes a problem (complex interfaces), offers a solution (detailed guides), but reveals a cost-related constraint that affects how teams allocate their guide-creation resources.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
This is a fill-in-the-blank question asking us to choose the best logical connector. The answer must create the right relationship between what comes before and after the blank.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- Looking at the conclusion, teams prioritize widely-used software over specialized applications
- This suggests that the cost of creating guides doesn't scale with the number of users - it costs roughly the same whether 10 people or 10,000 people will use the software
- If costs were proportional to users, teams wouldn't necessarily favor popular software
- But if costs stay the same regardless of user count, then popular software gives better return on investment
independent of
✗ Incorrect
- Indicates that guide costs remain largely unaffected by user activity levels
- Creates perfect logical flow to the conclusion - if costs don't change with user numbers, teams naturally focus on popular software for better ROI
determined by
✗ Incorrect
- Would mean costs are controlled by user activity levels
- Creates illogical flow - if costs were determined by users, the conclusion wouldn't follow
proportional to
✗ Incorrect
- Would mean costs increase/decrease with user activity
- Makes the conclusion nonsensical - teams wouldn't need to prioritize based on user count if costs already scaled accordingly
derived from
✗ Incorrect
- Would mean costs come from user activity
- Doesn't fit the sentence structure or logical progression