Keyword input via digits: Simplified smartphone interface for information retrieval

Abstract

This paper reports an application for smartphones that allows users to use digits for simple keyword input and its usability evaluation. This input method, called “one touch character”, helps users to enter keywords into a search engine entry field. Its easy-to-learn and easy-to-use characteristics make it highly effective in encouraging the elderly, who generally dislike IT systems, to search for information on the Internet. This smartphone application was tested by 30 subjects, ranging from young adults to the elderly, from the aspects of operation time and error rate. “One-touch-character” is also compared with other character input methods, such as “multi-touch-per-character” and “flick”.