Target Selection on Mobile Devices using Display Segmentation

In this paper, we explore the use of an interaction technique called sequential segmentation to support target selection for mobile devices. Sequential segmentation iteratively partitions an information space into selectable regions and subsequent sub-regions where each region/sub-region is labeled (1-9) and is mapped to the corresponding key on the mobile device’s numeric keypad. We conducted a study comparing the sequential technique to the directional pad for target selection. The results show that the directional pad is significantly faster than sequential for selecting targets that require three or less interactions with the directional pad. However, sequential is significantly faster than the directional pad for targets that require five or more interactions with the directional pad. User feedback shows a preference for sequential and that it is perceived easier to use than the directional pad