Acquisition speed with targets on the edge of the screen: An application of Fitts' law to commonly used Web browser controls

J. Shawn Farris; Keith S. Jones; Brent A. Anders

Acquisition speed with targets on the edge of the screen: An application of Fitts' law to commonly used Web browser controls

J. Shawn Farris, Keith S. Jones, Brent A. Anders

Psychological Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Conference article › peer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

According to Fitts' law, the time to acquire a target can be reduced by either reducing the target's distance or increasing its size. Tognazzini (1999) proposed that the time to acquire a target on graphical user interfaces could be reduced further by moving targets to the edge of the screen (i.e., edge targets). Two studies tested these predictions with a web browser interface's back-button (Experiment 1) and scroll bar (Experiment 2). Results support the aforementioned hypotheses. Edge targets were always faster to acquire than targets placed one pixel from the edge of the screen. However, within the constraints of the current studies, this speed advantage is maximal at approximately 393 ms for target heights ≥ 2.00 cm and target distances ≥ 11.75 cm. Design recommendations and a cost/benefit analysis are given.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1205-1209
Number of pages	5
Journal	Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
State	Published - 2001
Event	Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 45th Annual Meeting - Minneapolis/St.Paul, MN, United States Duration: Oct 8 2001 → Oct 12 2001

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title = "Acquisition speed with targets on the edge of the screen: An application of Fitts' law to commonly used Web browser controls",

abstract = "According to Fitts' law, the time to acquire a target can be reduced by either reducing the target's distance or increasing its size. Tognazzini (1999) proposed that the time to acquire a target on graphical user interfaces could be reduced further by moving targets to the edge of the screen (i.e., edge targets). Two studies tested these predictions with a web browser interface's back-button (Experiment 1) and scroll bar (Experiment 2). Results support the aforementioned hypotheses. Edge targets were always faster to acquire than targets placed one pixel from the edge of the screen. However, within the constraints of the current studies, this speed advantage is maximal at approximately 393 ms for target heights ≥ 2.00 cm and target distances ≥ 11.75 cm. Design recommendations and a cost/benefit analysis are given.",

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T1 - Acquisition speed with targets on the edge of the screen

AU - Farris, J. Shawn

AU - Jones, Keith S.

AU - Anders, Brent A.

PY - 2001

Y1 - 2001

N2 - According to Fitts' law, the time to acquire a target can be reduced by either reducing the target's distance or increasing its size. Tognazzini (1999) proposed that the time to acquire a target on graphical user interfaces could be reduced further by moving targets to the edge of the screen (i.e., edge targets). Two studies tested these predictions with a web browser interface's back-button (Experiment 1) and scroll bar (Experiment 2). Results support the aforementioned hypotheses. Edge targets were always faster to acquire than targets placed one pixel from the edge of the screen. However, within the constraints of the current studies, this speed advantage is maximal at approximately 393 ms for target heights ≥ 2.00 cm and target distances ≥ 11.75 cm. Design recommendations and a cost/benefit analysis are given.

AB - According to Fitts' law, the time to acquire a target can be reduced by either reducing the target's distance or increasing its size. Tognazzini (1999) proposed that the time to acquire a target on graphical user interfaces could be reduced further by moving targets to the edge of the screen (i.e., edge targets). Two studies tested these predictions with a web browser interface's back-button (Experiment 1) and scroll bar (Experiment 2). Results support the aforementioned hypotheses. Edge targets were always faster to acquire than targets placed one pixel from the edge of the screen. However, within the constraints of the current studies, this speed advantage is maximal at approximately 393 ms for target heights ≥ 2.00 cm and target distances ≥ 11.75 cm. Design recommendations and a cost/benefit analysis are given.

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M3 - Conference article

AN - SCOPUS:0442279423

SN - 1071-1813

SP - 1205

EP - 1209

JO - Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society

JF - Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society

Y2 - 8 October 2001 through 12 October 2001

ER -

Acquisition speed with targets on the edge of the screen: An application of Fitts' law to commonly used Web browser controls

Abstract

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