spf@whuts.ATT.COM (Steve Frysinger of Blue Feather Farm) (11/30/88)
Can anyone point me to published empirical studies of computer mouse usage? In going through my collection of proceedings and anthologies, I was surprised that I didn't find anything about this topic. Surely, someone has undertaken a human factors study of the little creatures. Thanks for the help! Steve Frysinger
klee@daisy.UUCP (Ken Lee) (12/01/88)
In article <5119@whuts.ATT.COM> (Steve Frysinger of Blue Feather Farm) writes: >Can anyone point me to published empirical studies of computer >mouse usage? S. Card, W. English & B. Burr, "Evaluation of Mouse, Rate-Controlled Isometric Joystick, Step Keys, and Text Keys for Text Selection on a CRT", *Ergonomics*, Vol. 21, No. 8, 1978, p. 601-613. J. Karat, J. McDonald & M. Anderson, "A Comparison of Menu Selection Techniques: Touch Panel, Mouse, and Keyboard", *International Journal of Man-Machine Studies*, vol. 25, no. 1, 1986, p. 73-88. Enjoy. Ken Lee Daisy Systems Corp., Interactive Graphics Tools Dept. -- uucp: uunet!daisy!klee arpanet: daisy!klee@uunet.uu.net "DC6 which is being used for Contra weapons supply runs out of New Orleans is probably being used for drug runs into U.S." - Oliver North, August, 1985
STAT02@YaleVM.YCC.Yale.Edu (12/13/88)
In article <5119@whuts.ATT.COM>, spf@whuts.ATT.COM (Steve Frysinger of Blue Feather Farm) writes: >Can anyone point me to published empirical studies of computer >mouse usage? Sorry, can't point you to any published empirical studies, but I can relate the results of an unpublished casual study undertaken while on duty as a computer consultant. It has been my experience that females more frequently take a longer time to become comfortable using a mouse. (whether this has a cultural or biological basis, I don't know, and frankly my dear, I don't give a damn :-). I was also struck, in a set of letters published in one of those glossy trade journals on the sins / virtues of mouse usage, that a larger percentage of the cons were from females. I'll go hunt through my boxes of clippings to see if I can dig this reference up... John Kochmer / Dept. Biology / Yale Univ. / New Haven, CT STAT02@YALEVM or KOCHMER@YALEVM (both BITNET)
andrea@hp-sdd.HP.COM (Andrea K. Frankel) (12/14/88)
In article <148@YaleVM.YCC.Yale.Edu> STAT02@YaleVM.YCC.Yale.Edu writes: >It has been my experience that females >more frequently take a longer time to become comfortable using a mouse. >(whether this has a cultural or biological basis, I don't know, and >frankly my dear, I don't give a damn :-). I was also struck, in a set of >letters published in one of those glossy trade journals on the sins / >virtues of mouse usage, that a larger percentage of the cons were from >females. I'd be interested in seeing more on this. As a formerly_rodent_avoidant female, my objections were 1) I type well and quickly (tested at 120 wpm some years back) and therefore am more comfortable with keyboard-oriented tools (such as vi) than with mouse-oriented ones (such as Windows Write). 2) the assignment of operations to mouse buttons is far from standardized, and changes from tool to tool and environment to environment. 3) the mouse is physically uncomfortable to use for any length of time. What changed my mind? MS Windows and the HP HIL mouse. This mouse has a large dome on which to rest the palm, making it more comfortable (especially for small hands). MSWindows, while it has its problems, makes it simple to learn the mappings of mouse actions (probably because it only uses one button, and the meaning of single and double click is consistent across applications). I learned that system much more quickly than the X interface's window manager. Also, the convention in MS Windows of having "accelerators" (enabling one to type sequences of <alt>(letter)+ to simulate mouse access to the pulldown menus, and function key mappings built in for common functions such as "find next") leaves it up to the user as to how much they use the mouse vs. how much they type. I can attain greater speeds using a combination of mouse and keyboard than using either predominantly. There was a blurb in the newspaper recently, and also in Science News I believe, reporting that the spatial-vs-verbal skill tradeoff varied in women according to their hormonal levels in a regular monthly cycle. It would be interesting to try "mouse acceptance tests" on non-mouse-using women and see if there was any correlation with where they were in their menstrual cycle! Andrea Frankel, Hewlett-Packard (San Diego Division) (619) 592-4664 "...I brought you a paddle for your favorite canoe." ______________________________________________________________________________ UUCP : {hplabs|nosc|hpfcla|ucsd}!hp-sdd!andrea Internet : andrea%hp-sdd@hp-sde.sde.hp.com (or @hplabs.hp.com, @nosc.mil, @ucsd.edu) USnail : 16399 W. Bernardo Drive, San Diego CA 92127-1899 USA
garye@hpdsla.HP.COM (Gary Ericson) (12/15/88)
I'm new to this area, so pardon me if I say something obvious or repeat
something that's been said before.
I read the study in the Int'l Journal of Man-Machine Studies (1986, Vol. 25)
by Karat, McDonald, and Anderson in which they comared the mouse, touch panel,
and keyboard for menu selection tasks. Their conclusion was that the touch
panel gave the highest performance of the three and was the most preferred;
the keyboard was second and the mouse was a distant third.
As I recall, they didn't notice any significant differences between male and
female subjects, and although those who were proficient with the keyboard
*preferred* the keyboard over the touch panel, they still *performed* better
with the touch panel over the keyboard. The authors guessed that the mouse
required a certain amount of additional coginitive activity (over the touch
panel) which slowed the subjects down a little.
This study fueled my feeling that the mouse is a pretty rotten pointing
device. It took me a while to get used to the thing, which doesn't surprise me
considering that it requires me to move my hand horizontally to the side of my
body in order to position a cursor vertically directly in front of me. Reminds
me of trying to trim my beard with scissors in a mirror - I keep turning them
the wrong way.
Question: Would the menu selection in the study be comparable to the kind of
pointing done in a windows environment? I would think so, although windows
require more precise movement and selection.
So why haven't we switched to something better like a touch panel? I guess
because of lack of precision and the difficulty in holding your hand in the
air for extended periods of time. So how about a direct pointer like a light
pen, but one that is more precise? Still have to hold it in the air. So how
about imbedding the monitor in the desk horizontally or near horizontally,
like a drafting table, so I can rest my arm on it? Hmmm...
Gary Ericson - Hewlett-Packard, Technical Systems Division
phone: (408)746-5098 mailstop: 101N email: gary@hpdsla9.hp.comreggie@pdn.UUCP (George W. Leach) (12/15/88)
In article <1761@hp-sdd.HP.COM> andrea@hp-sdd.UUCP (Andrea K. Frankel) writes: >3) the mouse is physically uncomfortable to use for any length of time. >What changed my mind? MS Windows and the HP HIL mouse. This mouse has >a large dome on which to rest the palm, making it more comfortable >(especially for small hands). Yes! The mouse on the Blit (Commercial Version -> Teletype DMD 5620) was also dome shaped, with the mour buttons located on side rather than top (near the tail). It fit nicely into the palm of my hand. However, for people with long fingers, it may not have been so comfortable. I find that most often I grasp the mouse (on a Sun 3/60) on the sides with my thumb and the pinky *and* ring finger. The reason for this is that by only using the pinky on one side, I feel fatigue in that finger very quickly. However, this means that one of the fingers used to depress a mouse button, assuming a three button mouse, must server two purposes: to help the pinky and then depress one of the mouse buttons. Otherwise, one must use the middle finger to cover two mouse buttons. -- George W. Leach Paradyne Corporation ..!uunet!pdn!reggie Mail stop LG-129 Phone: (813) 530-2376 P.O. Box 2826 Largo, FL USA 34649-2826
duncan@geppetto.ctt.bellcore.com (Scott Duncan) (12/15/88)
In article <5139@pdn.UUCP> reggie@pdn.UUCP (George W. Leach) writes: > > I find that most often I grasp the mouse (on a Sun 3/60) on the sides >with my thumb and the pinky *and* ring finger. The reason for this is that >by only using the pinky on one side, I feel fatigue in that finger very >quickly. However, this means that one of the fingers used to depress a >mouse button, assuming a three button mouse, must server two purposes: >to help the pinky and then depress one of the mouse buttons. Otherwise, >one must use the middle finger to cover two mouse buttons. I find, for what it's worth, that I hold the mouse as George describes but tend to use my index finger for the middle and left buttons and the middle finger only for the left one. On the other hand, I am not doing many things that require lots of mouse activity. (At home on my Mac, I do a lot and I believe my two-finger approach has been ingrained by the one-button mouse.) Speaking only for myself, of course, I am... Scott P. Duncan (duncan@ctt.bellcore.com OR ...!bellcore!ctt!duncan) (Bellcore, 444 Hoes Lane RRC 1H-210, Piscataway, NJ 08854) (201-699-3910 (w) 201-463-3683 (h))