Abstract: An experiment was conducted to evaluate menuing and scrolling as alternative information access techniques when a touch-sensitive input device was used to interact with the system. A hierarchical menu structure and three scrolling methods, line-by-line, half-screen, and full-screen, were tested. Level of goal word familiarity (familiar and unfamiliar) and window display size (12 or 24 lines displayed on the screen) were also examined. The task consisted of using a touch tablet to locate a target goal word with one of the four access methods. Members of a single set of 64 words, 32 familiar and 32 unfamiliar, served as goal words in all conditions. Performance data (total time to complete the task) were collected from 48 subjects. Access method and window size were between-subject variables. Each subject received both word familiarity levels. Results of an analysis of variance on mean total task time (MTIME) revealed a significant access method by word familiarity interaction. Separate analyses of variance were conducted on MTIME for familiar and unfamiliar goal word sets. When the goal word was familiar, menuing was fastest, followed by line-by-line, full-screen, and half-screen scrolling. For unfamiliar goal words, line-by-line scrolling was fastest, followed by full-screen, half-screen, and menuing. The effect of window size was not significant. The findings of this study suggest that the operator's familiarity with the information being searched is important when deciding upon an access method.

Keywords: Empirical studies; Information access; Menu, selection; Pointing device input; Screen output; Scrolling

Originally published: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 34th Annual Meeting, 1990, pp. 356-359

Republished: G. Perlman, G. K. Green, & M. S. Wogalter (Eds.) Human Factors Perspectives on Human-Computer Interaction: Selections from Proceedings of Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meetings, 1983-1994, Santa Monica, CA: HFES, 1995, pp. 206-209.