perlman@wanginst.UUCP (02/23/87)
The paper described in the following abstract can be obtained by
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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.
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Gary Perlman Wang Institute Tyngsboro, MA 01879 (617) 649-9731
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