Investigating Performance and Usage of Input Methods for Soft Keyboard Hotkeys

Touch-based devices, despite their mainstream availability, do not support a unified and efficient command selection mechanism, available on every platform and application. We advocate that hotkeys, conventionally used as a shortcut mechanism on desktop computers, could be generalized as a command selection mechanism for touch-based devices, even for keyboard-less applications. In this paper, we investigate the performance and usage of soft keyboard shortcuts or hotkeys (abbreviated SoftCuts) through two studies comparing different input methods across sitting, standing and walking conditions. Our results suggest that SoftCuts not only are appreciated by participants but also support rapid command selection with different devices and hand configurations. We also did not find evidence that walking deters their performance when using the Once input method.Comment: 17+2 pages, published at Mobile HCI 202

A hotkey interaction technique that promotes hotkeys

Hotkeys provide fast interactions to support expert performance. Compared to the traditional pointer-based selection of commands, hotkeys have the advantage in reducing task completion time. However, research shows that users have a tendency of favoring menu selections. This is partially caused by how hotkeys are displayed in most linear and toolbar menus. This thesis provides a review of key findings from literature that aim to promote hotkeys. On the base of these findings, this thesis develops design criteria for hotkey displays that promote hotkey use. This thesis also proposes a new interaction technique which displays hotkeys on the keyboard. Finally, a cognitive model is constructed to describe a user’s decision-making process of choosing between hotkeys and pointer-based selections when this new hotkey display technique is presented

Réduire l'Aversion aux Erreurs pour Aider la Transition Novice-Expert avec Fast Tap

National audienceExpert interaction techniques such as gestures or hotkeys are more efficient than traditional WIMP techniques because it is often faster to recall a command than to navigate to it. However, many users seem to be reluctant to switch to expert interaction. We hypothesize the cause might be the aversion of making errors. To test this, we designed two intermediate modes for the FastTap interaction technique, allowing quick confirmation of what the user has retrieved from memory, and quick adjustment if she has made an error. We investigated the impact of these modes and of various error costs in a controlled study (N=36). We found that participants adopted the intermediate modes, that these modes reduced error rate when error cost was high, and that they did not substantially change selection times. However, while it validates the design of our intermediate modes, we found no evidence of greater switch to memory-based interaction, suggesting that reducing the error rate is not sufficient to promote expert use of techniques.Les techniques d'interaction expertes comme les vocabulaires gestuels ou les raccourcis clavier sont plus efficaces que les techniques WIMP traditionnelles. Il est en effet plus rapide de se rappeler une commande plutôt que de la retrouver dans des menus. Cependant, la plupart des utilisateurs semblent réticents à passer aux interactions qui se basent sur leur mémoire. Nous pensons que la cause pourrait être due à leur aversion à faire des erreurs. Pour tester cette hypothèse, nous avons conçu deux modes intermédiaires pour la technique d'interaction FastTap, qui permet de rapidement confirmer ce que l'utilisateur s'est rappelé de mémoire, et d'ajuster si une erreur a été faite. Nous avons étudié l'impact de ces deux modes intermédiaires et de différents coûts d'erreur dans une étude contrôlée (N=36). Nous avons trouvé que les participants ont adopté les modes intermédiaires, que ces modes réduisaient le taux d'erreur quand le coût de l'erreur était important, et qu'ils n'ont pas affecté de manière significative les temps de sélection. Cependant, bien que les résultats valident la conception de nos modes intermédiaires, nous n'avons pas trouvé de preuve sur un plus grand passage aux interactions qui se basent sur la mémoire. Cela suggère que réduire le taux d'erreur n'est pas suffisant pour promouvoir l'utilisation experte des techniques

Promoting Hotkey Use through Rehearsal with ExposeHK

International audienceKeyboard shortcuts allow fast interaction, but they are known to be infrequently used, with most users relying heavily on traditional pointer-based selection for most commands. We describe the goals, design, and evaluation of ExposeHK, a new interface mechanism that aims to increase hotkey use. ExposeHK’s four key design goals are: 1) enable users to browse hotkeys; 2) allow non-expert users to issue hotkey commandsas a physical rehearsal of expert performance; 3) exploit spatial memory to assist non-expert users in identifying hotkeys; and 4) maximise expert performance by using consistent shortcuts in a flat command hierarchy. ExposeHK supports these objectives by displaying hotkeys overlaid on their associated commands when a modifier key is pressed. We evaluated ExposeHK in three empirical studies using toolbars, menus, anda tabbed ‘ribbon’ toolbar. Results show that participants used more hotkeys, and used them more often, with ExposeHK than with other techniques; they were faster with ExposeHK than with either pointing or other hotkey methods; and they strongly preferred ExposeHK. Our research shows that ExposeHK cansubstantially improve the user’s transition from a ‘beginner mode’ of interaction to a higher level of expertise

Investigating Performance and Usage of Input Methods for Soft Keyboard Hotkeys

International audienceTouch-based devices, despite their mainstream availability, do not support a unified and efficient command selection mechanism, available on every platform and application. We advocate that hotkeys, conventionally used as a shortcut mechanism on desktop computers, could be generalized as a command selection mechanism for touch-based devices, even for keyboard-less applications. In this paper, we investigate the performance and usage of soft keyboard shortcuts or hotkeys (abbreviated SoftCuts) through two studies comparing different input methods across sitting, standing and walking conditions. Our results suggest that SoftCuts not only are appreciated by participants but also support rapid command selection with different devices and hand configurations. We also did not find evidence that walking deters their performance when using the Once input method

IconHK: Using Toolbar Button Icons to Communicate Keyboard Shortcuts

International audienceWe propose a novel perspective on the design of toolbar buttons that aims to increase keyboard shortcut accessibility. IconHK implements this perspective by blending visual cues that convey keyboard shortcut information into toolbar buttons without denaturing the pictorial representation of their command. We introduce three design strategies to embed the hotkey, a visual encoding to convey the modifiers, and a magnification factor that determines the blending ratio between the pictogram of the button and the visual representation of the keyboard shortcut. Two studies examine the benefits of IconHK for end-users and provide insights from professional designers on the practicality of our approach for creating iconsets. Building on these insights, we develop a tool to assist designers in applying the IconHK design principle

Leveraging finger identification to integrate multi-touch command selection and parameter manipulation

International audienceIdentifying which fingers are touching a multi-touch surface provides a very large input space. We describe FingerCuts, an interaction technique inspired by desktop keyboard shortcuts to exploit this potential. FingerCuts enables integrated command selection and parameter manipulation, it uses feed-forward and feedback to increase discoverability, it is backward compatible with current touch input techniques, and it is adaptable for different touch device form factors. We implemented three variations of FingerCuts, each tailored to a different device form factor: tabletop, tablet, and smartphone. Qualitative and quantitative studies conducted on the tabletop suggests that with some practice, FingerCuts is expressive, easy-to-use, and increases a sense of continuous interaction flow and that interaction with FingerCuts is as fast, or faster than using a graphical user interface. A theoretical analysis of FingerCuts using the Fingerstroke-Level Model (FLM) matches our quantitative study results, justifying our use of FLM to analyse and validate the performance for the other device form factors