perlman@wanginst.UUCP (02/23/87)
The paper described in the following abstract can be obtained by sending me your mailing address. Please use the following format. Gary Perlman School of Information Technology Wang Institute of Graduate Studies Tyng Road Tyngsboro, MA 01879 USA Designing Menu Format to Match Input Device Format Leo C. Sherwin & Gary Perlman Wang Institute Of Graduate Studies Tyngsboro, Massachusetts 01879 USA Abstract We report the results of an experiment designed to measure the effects of modeling menu format to match the format of input devices. Subjects were presented with menus in layouts of varying compatibility with two common input devices: IBM PC function keys in a matrix format and the digit keys at the top of standard keyboards. The results showed that the better the match between formats of menus and devices, the lower the selection times. Guidelines for the design of displays suggest that the best way to show items is in a vertical sorted list, which is incompatible with the format of IBM function keys; an unfortunate incompatibility found in close to five million keyboards. -- Gary Perlman Wang Institute Tyngsboro, MA 01879 (617) 649-9731 UUCP: decvax!wanginst!perlman CSNET: perlman@wanginst