ABSTRACT

Everyday activities often involve using an interactive device while one is handling various other physical objects (wallets, bags, doors, pens, mugs, etc.). This paper presents the Manual Multitasking Test, a test with 12 conditions emulating manual demands of everyday multitasking situations. It allows experimenters to expose the effects of design on "manual flexibility": users' ability to reconfigure the sensorimotor control of arms, hands, and fingers in order to regain the high performance levels they experience when using the device on its own. The test was deployed for pointing devices on laptops and Qwerty keyboards of mobile devices. In these studies, we identified facilitative design features whose absence explains, for example, why the mouse and stylus function poorly in multi-object performance. The issue deserves more attention, because interfaces that are nominally similar (e.g., "one-handed input") can vary dramatically in terms of "ease of juggling".
References
- American Time Use Survey ATUS. Tables for 2009. United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. http://www.bls.gov/tus/tables/a1_2009.pd.Google Scholar
- Balakrishnan, R., and MacKenzie, I. Performance dif-ferences in the fingers, wrist, and forearm in computer input control. In Proc. CHI'97, ACM Press (1997), pp. 303--310. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Crossan, A., Williamson, J., Brewster, S., and Murray-Smith, R. Wrist rotation for interaction in mobile contexts. In Proc. MobileHCI'08, ACM Press (2008), pp. 435--438. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Gokturk, M., and Sibert, J. An analysis of the index finger as a pointing device. In Ext. Abst. CHI'99, ACM Press (1999), pp. 286--287. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- González, V., and Mark, G. Constant, constant, multi-tasking craziness: Managing multiple working spheres. In Proc. CHI'04, ACM Press (2004), pp. 113--120. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Guiard, Y. Asymmetric division of labor in human skilled bimanual action: The kinematic chain as a model. Journal of Motor Behavior 19 (1987), 486--517.Google Scholar
Cross Ref
- Haley, S., Jette A., Coster W. J., et al. Late Life Function and Disability Instrument: II. Development and evaluation of the function component. Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences 57 (2002), 217--222.Google Scholar
Cross Ref
- Hoggan, E., and Brewster, S. Designing audio and tactile crossmodal icons for mobile devices. In Proc. ICMI'07, ACM Press (2007), pp. 162--169. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Isokoski, P., and Linden, T. Effect of foreign language on text transcription performance: Finns writing English. In Proc. NordiCHI'04, ACM Press (2004), pp. 109--112. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Jones, L. A., and Lederman, S. Human Hand Function. Oxford University Press, USA, 2006.Google Scholar
- Jones, L. A., and Piateski, E. Contribution of tactile feedback from the hand to the perception of force. Experimental Brain Research 168 (2006), 298--302.Google Scholar
Cross Ref
- Klauer, S. G. et al. An analysis of driver inattetion using a case-crossover approach on 100-car data: Final report. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: DOT HS 811 334, USA, 2010.Google Scholar
- Lee, Y., and Su, M. Design and validation of a desk-free and posture-independent input device. Applied Ergonomics 39, 3 (2008), 399--406.Google Scholar
Cross Ref
- Leganchuk, A., Zhai, S., and Buxton, W. Manual and cognitive benefits of two-handed input: an experimental study. ACM TOCHI 5, 4 (1998). Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Lewis, J., Potosnak, K., and Magyar, R. Keys and keyboards. In Helander et al. (Eds.), Handbook of Human-Computer Interaction, Lawrence Erlbaum (1997), NJ, USA, pp. 1285--1315.Google Scholar
- Loukopoulos, L., Dismukes, R., and Barshi, I. Cockpit interruptions and distractions: A line observation study. In Proc. International Symposium on Aviation Psychology, Columbus: Ohio State University (2001).Google Scholar
- Luk, J., Pasquero, J., Little, S., MacLean, K., Levesque, V., and Hayward, V. A role for haptics in mobile interaction. In Proc. CHI'06, ACM Press (2006). Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Lyons, K., Starner, T., Plaisted, D., Fusia, J., Lyons, A., Drew, A., and Looney, E. Twiddler typing: One-handed chording text entry for mobile phones. In Proc. CHI'04, ACM Press (2004). Google Scholar
Digital Library
- MacKenzie, I., and Soukoreff, R. Phrase sets for evaluating text entry techniques. In Ext. Abst. CHI'03, ACM Press (2003). Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Mainwaring, S. D., Anderson, K., and Chang, M. F. Living for the global city: Mobile kits, urban interfaces, and ubicomp. In Proc. Ubicomp'05, Springer-Verlag (2005), pp. 268--286. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- 2Oakley, I., Sunwoo, J., and Cho, I. Pointing with fingers, hands and arms for wearable computing. In Ext. Abst. CHI'08, ACM Press (2008), pp. 3255--3260. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Oulasvirta, A., and Bergstrom-Lehtovirta, J. A simple index for multimodal flexibility. In Proc. CHI'10, ACM Press (2010), pp. 1475--1484. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Ronkainen, S., Koskinen, E., Liu, Y., and Korhonen, P. Environment analysis as a basis for designing multi-modal and multidevice user interfaces. Human-Computer Interaction 25, 2 (2010), 148--193.Google Scholar
Cross Ref
- Sawhney, N., and Schmandt, C. Nomadic radio: speech and audio interaction for contextual messaging in nomadic environments. ACM TOCHI 7, 3 (2000). Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Smith, B. IDTest Cursor Motion Test Application, 1999, http://www.almaden.ibm.com/u/basmith/testapp.html.Google Scholar
- Stanton, N. Handbook of Human Factors and Ergo-nomics Methods. CRC Press, 2005. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Statistics Finland Time Use Study 1999-2000. http://pxweb2.stat.fi/Database/StatFin/klt/akay/akay_en.as.Google Scholar
- Tamminen, S., Oulasvirta, A., Toiskallio, K., and Kankainen, A. Understanding mobile contexts. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing 8, 2 (2004), 135--143.Google Scholar
Cross Ref
- van Nierop, O., van der Helm, A., Overbeeke, K., and Djajadiningrat, T. A natural human hand model. Visual Computer 24, 1 (2008), 31--44. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Westbrook, J., Ampt, A., Kearney, L., and Rob, M. All in a day's work: an observational study to quantify how and with whom doctors on hospital wards spend their time. Medical Journal of Australia 188, 9 (2008).Google Scholar
Cross Ref
- Wickens, C. D. Multiple resources and performance prediction. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science 3, 2 (2002), 159--177.Google Scholar
Cross Ref
- Witt, H., Nicolai, T., and Kenn, H. Designing a wear-able user interface for hands-free interaction in maintenance applications. In Proc. Pervasive Computing and Communications Workshops, IEEE (2006), pp. 655--659. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Zhai, S., Milgram, P., and Buxton, W. The influence of muscle groups on performance of multiple degree-of-freedom input. In Proc. CHI'96, ACM Press (2006). Google Scholar
Digital Library


Antti Oulasvirta
Joanna Bergstrom-Lehtovirta





Comments