Seiler%mit-xx@sri-unix.UUCP (06/30/83)
From: Larry Seiler <Seiler@mit-xx>
Since it's been requested, here is a message I saved from (I think)
WorkS, the workstations digest, on the relative efficiency of different
pointing devices. I have something of my own to add about light pens:
according to reliable testimony, if you try to use them for serious (ie,
sustained) work, your wrist falls off. I prefer mice because they are
as fast or faster than anything else for large cursor motions, as comfortable
or more comfortable to use, and much more accurate than anything except
tablets, which are bulky and expensive. Although for small cursor movements
on a screen with fixed width characters, control keys have advantages...
Anyway, here is the formal comparison.
Larry Seiler
***** ***** *****
Date: 9 Aug 1982 17:45:26 EDT (Monday)
From: David Mankins <dm at BBN-RSM>
Subject: re: pointer device report request
Two papers discussing selection of text using various pointer devices
(mouse, velocity joystick, light pens & different flavors of function keys):
CARD:
Card, S.K., English, W.K. and Burr, B.J., "Evaluation of mouse,
rate-controlled isometric joystick, step keys, and text keys for text
selection on a CRT," in \Ergonomics/, 21, 8 (1978), pp. 601-613.
ENGL:
English, W.K., Engelbart, D.C., & Berman, M.L., "Display selection
techniques for text manipulation," \IEEE Transactions on Human Factors
in Electronics, HFE-8/, 1 (March 1976), pp. 5-15.
CARD, in summary (from a human factors tutorial I took at Siggraph):
for time to locate text:
mouse < velocity joystick < text keys < step keys
for errors in locating text:
mouse < text keys < joystick < step keys
learning improvement:
beginner expert
mouse 2.2s 1.3s
joystick 2.2s 1.6s
text keys 3.9s 1.9s
step keys 3.0s 2.3s
"Step keys" are the little arrow keys, up, down, left, right, one
step. "Text keys" are function keys "next word", "next paragraph",
"next page", etc.
ENGL, in summary:
For experienced users:
mouse < light pen < joystick (time)
mouse < light pen < joystick (errors)
For inexperienced users:
(mouse, light pen) < joystick (time)
mouse < light pen < joystick (errors)
The human factors guy didn't know of any studies comparing track balls
to mice, et. al.
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