Touch Screen Devices and the Effectiveness of User Interface Methods

This study was designed to examine how several methods for completing tasks (such as scrolling and zooming) differ when using touch screen devices. The goal of this research is to identify which methods produce the least amount of errors, and require the shortest amount of time when trying to accomplish a task. The study also aims to answer whether certain methods are better suited for different screen sizes (i.e., phone sized screen vs. a tablet sized screen). Results indicated that the phone sized device allowed users to complete all tasks more quickly but required greater effort to complete the task than the tablet sized device. Certain methods were identified to reduce the amount of time to accomplish a task, produce fewer errors, and reduce the effort required to accomplish a task.