Thomas S. Tullis

Readability of fonts in the windows environment

The readability of twelve different fonts and sizes in the Microsoft Windows environment was studied. The specific fonts were Arial, MS Saris Serif, MS Serif, and Small Fonts. Their sizes ranged from 6.0 to 9.75 points. These were presented using black text on either a white or gray background and either bold or non-bold style. There were significant differences between the various fontlsize combinations in terms of reading speed, accuracy, and subjective preferences. There were no consistent differences as a result of background color or boldness. The most preferred fonts were Arial and MS Saris Serif at 9.75. Most of the fonts from 8.25 to 9.75 performed well in terms of reading speed and accuracy, with the exception of MS Serif at 8.25. Arial at 7.5 and both of the Small Fonts (6.0 and 6.75) should generally be avoided.

Designing a menu-based interface to an operating system

The development of a large menu-based interface to an operating system posed a number of interesting user interface questions. Among those were how to determine the users view of the relationships among the myriad of functions in the system, and how to reflect those relationships in a menu hierarchy. An experiment utilizing a sorting technique and hierarchical cluster analysis was quite effective in learning the users perception of the relationships among the system functions. A second experiment comparing a “broad” menu hierarchy to a “deep” menu hierarchy showed that users made significantly fewer inappropriate menu selections with the broad hierarchy.

Older adults and the web: lessons learned from eye-tracking

An eye-tracking study of a prototype website was conducted with 10 younger adults (ages 20-39) and 10 older adults (ages 50-69) to determine if there are differences in how they scan webpages. They performed the same tasks on the website. On the average, the older adults spent 42% more time looking at the content of the pages than did the younger adults. They also spent 51% more time looking at the navigation areas. The pattern of fixations on almost all pages showed that the older adults looked at more parts of the page than did the younger adults. Implications for designing webpages that work well for older adults are provided.

Older adults and web usability: is web experience the same as web expertise?

Level of Web experience is often a factor for which researchers attempt to control while conducting experimental studies on Web usability. It is typically measured by some means of self-assessment that often includes questions regarding long-term usage, frequency of use, and the types of activities performed while using the Web. A common assumption is that Web experience is the same as Web expertise (high experience = high expertise). In our research studies primarily focused on Web usability and older adults, we found that even when Web experience is controlled, older adults still demonstrated less Web expertise than younger adults. Our research has supported the hypothesis that Web expertise is significantly influenced by how users learned the Web - or their cumulative time spent in collaborative learning environments (learning from and with others) - rather than just how long or how often they have used it. Preliminary results in our labs demonstrate a positive correlation between opportunities for collaborative learning and Web expertise, as well as a negative correlation between opportunities for collaborative learning and age. These results support the need to reassess how best to measure Web expertise and how we might improve Web interaction for older adults.

A method for evaluating Web page design concepts

In redesigning the Intranet at Fidelity Investments, we used a paper-based technique for getting user feedback on initial design concepts for the web pages. The technique involved color printouts of “Greeked” versions of five different candidate web page designs. Users had to try to identify nine standard elements that appeared on each page (e.g., owner, last updated). They also rated each on three subjective rating scales (format, attractiveness, color). The technique was successful in helping us to derive a new design.

Can users remember their pictorial passwords six years later

Previous research had shown that pictorial passwords, where users recognize their target images among distractors, have potential for improving the usability of authentication systems. A method using personal photos provided by the users as their targets, shown among highly similar distractors, showed the most promise for both accuracy and security. But the longest time period that had been tested between successive login attempts was only about one month. We wanted to see what happens when six years have elapsed. We recruited some of the same participants from the previous study and tested their ability to select their target photos six years later. We found that 12 of 13 participants successfully authenticated themselves. The overall accuracy rate was 95.6%, demonstrating that most users can remember these pictorial passwords even over long periods of time.

A Comparison of Direct-Manipulation, Selection, and Data-Entry Techniques for Reordering Fields in a Table

A useful feature of data base systems is to allow the user to change the order in which fields appear in the columns of a table. The purpose of this study was to compare the usability of seven different user interfaces for performing this task in the Microsoft Windows environment. The fields to be reordered were file name, file number, size, and creation date. The seven approaches studied covered a range of interaction styles, including dragging and dropping, menu selection, text entry, and button pressing. Fifteen Windows users completed a set of two practice trials using each approach, followed by a set of twelve main trials. For each trial, the user was shown the current order of the fields and a target order to change to. The completion times showed significant differences according to the approach used. Overall, a data-selection technique using radio buttons and a data-entry technique using a single entry area were significantly faster than all of the others. Another data-entry technique, involving multiple entry areas, was consistently the slowest. Somewhat surprisingly, given the current trend toward direct-manipulation interfaces, the two approaches involving dragging and dropping were not among the most effective approaches.

Chapter 23 – Screen Design

Publisher Summary The term screen design usually refers to either the process of determining the visual appearance and content of a single visual frame or the end result of that process. In the days of terminals connected to remote computers, these screens were synonymous with physical screens—that is, presenting a new screen meant repainting the entire physical screen. As graphical user interface (GUI) systems have become common, screen design has taken on a somewhat different meaning. Today, in GUI applications, most people use the term “screen design” to refer to the design of a specific window or dialog box rather than the design of the entire physical screen. Consequently, the chapter focuses on the design of these individual frames of information. A variety of metrics and several systems have been developed to help in developing effective screens. These systems have grown to encompass increasingly rich definitions of the visual characteristics of interfaces as well as the tasks they are used for. They promise eventually leading to a fully-featured screen designers workbench” in which a designer could iteratively refine screen designs automatically generated from basic interface requirements and task descriptions.

Designating required vs. optional input fields

This paper describes a study comparing different techniques for visually distingishing required from optional input fields in a form-filling application. Seven techniques were studied: no indication, bold field labels, chevrons in front of the labels, check marks to the right of the input fields, a different background color, grouping them separately, and a status bar indication. Performance and preference data were collected. In general, we found that the two worst methods were no indication and the status bar. The best method was separate groups.

A comparison of direct-manipulation, selection, and data-entry techniques for re-ordering fields in a table

A common type of display in many computer systems is a table that shows values of several different properties for a list of files. In designing such a display for a forthcoming product, we thought it would be helpful to allow the user to change the order in which the fields appear in the columns of the table. The specific fields that the user could re-order were file name, number, size, and creation date. Seven different approaches to re-ordering the fields were studied in the Microsoft Windows environment. Due to constraints imposed by the application, it was necessary to have the user do the re-ordering in a dialog box separate from the main display of the files.