Abstract

Previous research has shown that, without practice, users are slower using the foot than the hand to control input devices. This study compared the performance (before and after practice) of users operating a foot-controlled secondary input device (foot mouse) with the performance of users operating a hand-controlled secondary input device (hand trackball) to complete four word processing tasks requiring various amounts of keyboard and secondary input device use. Before practice, hand trackball performance was better on all tasks. After practice, hand trackball performance was better on all tasks except the task requiring the greatest amount of keyboard use, for which there was no significant difference between devices. For all tasks, practice improved performance with the foot mouse but not with the hand trackball. These findings suggest that, with enough practice, it may be efficient for users to use a foot input device for tasks that also require keyboard input.

Details

Title
Effects of practice with foot- and hand-operated secondary input devices on word processing task performance
Author
Garcia, Fredrick P.
Year
2009
Publisher
ProQuest Dissertations Publishing
ISBN
978-1-109-17257-7
Source type
Dissertation or Thesis
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
305180869
Copyright
Database copyright ProQuest LLC; ProQuest does not claim copyright in the individual underlying works.