Symbol Creator Usability evaluation of a novel pen- based text input technique Melinda Luoma New Interaction Techniques February 25, 2003

Introduction to the Problem 4 Lot of time spent writing SMSs - how about faster text entry? 4 Smaller keyboards needed for smaller devices

Previous Research 4 Symbol Creator = assembling characters using symbols that resemble basic elements of Latin cursive 4 Two competing paradigms for mobile text entry: –pen-based input vs keyboard-based input 4 Most work has focused on expert performance; however, novice performance and experience is much more important (MacKenzie, 2002)

Objectives in General 4 The project aims to carry out a comparative research of two pen-based text input techniques: Symbol Creator and multi-tap –speed, accuracy, subjective experiences –learning 4 In particular, to measure novice performance –problems: novice with SC, but not multi-tap; where to find novice subjects in both methods?

Schedule

Research Methods 4 Overview to introduction to the field of pen- based text entry techniques 4 Empirical research based on earlier research on novel pen-based text entry techniques

Experiment Design

Experimental Setup (1) 4 PDA Jornada 4 Tauchi laboratory 4 PhEntry software by Grigori 4 Text entry parameters and user performance –speed = wpm –accuracy = errors –keystrokes & time per word –reaction time per character and variations

Experimental Setup (2) 4 PDA Jornada 4 Tauchi laboratory 4 PhEntry software by Grigori 4 Text entry parameters and user performance –speed = wpm –accuracy = errors –keystrokes & time per word –reaction time per character and variations

Preliminary Results (1) 4 With these subjects, SC demanded more clicks per word than multi-tap 4 Why? –novice status with SC –learning would probably decrease the differences between the methods

Preliminary Results (2) 4 Text entry speed measured by seconds per writing one word –faster with multi-tap 4 Learning in both methods

Preliminary Results (3) 4 Reaction times (ms) –shorter with multi-tap 4 Good learning effect in Symbol Creator

Preliminary Results (4) 4 Number of errors in Symbol Creator decreases fastly 4 Nearly no errors in multi-tap

Forecasted Results 4 In a test with novices, multi-tap will probably be faster when measured by reaction times and words per minute 4 However, learning can be fast measured by reduction of errors and increase of text entry speed 4 Test method may need some improving: “faster” keyboard for better differentiation of users

Prospective Applications 4 Handwriting (italic) fonts learning-game for kindergarten 4 Layout optimization 4 Applications for special needs (cyclic mode, one- dimensional choice, eye-typing (dwelling time), SC for numerical keyboard (blind manipulations) 4 Mini-Touchscreen requires mini-keyboard (watches, other mobile…)

References 4 Blickenstorfer, C. H. (1995), Graffiti: Wow!!!! Pen Computing Magazine, January, Brewster, S. (2001), Overcoming the Lack of Screen Space on Mobile Computers. Technical Report TR , April. Glasgow University, available at: 4 Exner, Ch., & Henderson, A. (1995), Cognition and motor skill. In Anne Henderson & Charlane Pehoski (Eds.), Hand function in the child. St. Louis: Mosby-Year Book, pp Goldberg, D., & Richardson, C. (1993). Touch-typing with a stylus. Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - INTERCHI '93, New York: ACM. 4 Handwriting styles, fontware. Available at: 4 Isokoski, P. and Raisamo, R. (2000), Device Independent Text Input: A Rationale and an Example. In V. D. Gesù, S. Levialdi and L. Tarantino (eds.), Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces AVI 2000, Palermo, Italy, pp Kirsh D. (1995), Complementary Strategies: Why we use our hands when we think. In Proceedings of the Seventeenth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, available at: MacKenzie, I.S, and Soukoreff, R. W. (2002). Text entry for mobile computing: Models and methods, theory and practice. Human-Computer Interaction. Available at: 4 Mankoff, J. and Abowd, G.D. (1998), Cirrin: A word-level unistroke keyboard for pen input. In Proceedings of UIST '98. Technical notes. pp , available at: 4 Quikwriting. Product information is available at: 4 Western script, handwriting styles, available at: 4 Zagler, W.I. (2002), Matching Typing Persons and Intelligent Interfaces. In J.Klaus, K.Miesenberger, W. L. Zagler (Eds.), Proceedings of the 8 th International Conference on Computers Helping People with Special Needs. ICCHP 2002 Linz, Austria, LNCS Vol. 2398, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, pp Zhai, S., Hunter, M., & Smith, B. A. (2000), The Metropolis keyboard - An exploration of quantitative techniques for virtual keyboard design. Proceedings of the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology - UIST 2000, New York: ACM, pp