Command Abbreviation Behavior in Human-Computer Interaction

Abstract

This paper reports the findings of an experiment conducted to observe the command abbreviation behat~ior of users of an interactive decision-support system. The subjects were not given any specific instructions on how to abbreViate or any !ncentives to use abbreviations. Nevertheless, 62.5 percent of the subjects abbreviated commands consistently and over 80 percent of the subjects who abbreviated Used the truncation method exclusively. The number of abbreviation errors due to truncation was less than 2 percent of the abbreviated commands. The use of abbreviations was positively correlated with the length of commands and the frequency of use of commands. © 1984, ACM. All rights reserved.