Evaluation of two pointing control devices for a cellular phone

Abstract

Increasing number of functions in a cellular phone requires an advanced interface beyond a simple menu selection. In this study two pointing devices - an optic sensor and a pointing stick- were examined, which had recently been or planned to be applied to cellular phones. We evaluated two cellular phones equipped with each pointing device. Operations of the two devices were evaluated with objective and subjective measures. The throughputs, an index of performance based on Fitts' law, were collected in the multi-direction pointing and selecting task. A user interface (UI) checklist analysis was conducted as a subjective measure to evaluated users' acceptance of the devices. The results showed that values of throughput distinctively varied by direction of a movement when the optical sensor was used. In the UI checklist analysis, the pointing stick device was rated with higher scores than the optic sensor device. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.