Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers (대한산업공학회지)

Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers (대한산업공학회)
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Usability Evaluation of the Size of Small Touch Keys for the Smart Phone

스마트 폰 터치스크린에서의 작은 터치 키의 사용성 연구

  • Kim, Bo-Ram (Department of Industrial and Management Engineering, Korea University) ;
  • Kim, Tae-Il (TV UX Team, LG Electronics) ;
  • Lim, Young-Jae (Department of Industrial and Management Engineering, Korea University) ;
  • Jung, Eui-S. (Department of Industrial and Management Engineering, Korea University)
  • Received : 2012.01.19
  • Accepted : 2012.03.08
  • Published : 2012.06.01
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Abstract

This paper focuses on small touch key size and spacing that affect the usability of the smart phones. The experiments examined thirty-six different touch key designs, combinations of four touch key sizes (width (mm) ${\times}$height (mm); $4{\times}4$, $4{\times}7$, $7{\times}4$, and $7{\times}7$), and nine spacings (horizontal (mm)${\times}$vertical (mm); $0{\times}0$, $0{\times}1$, $0{\times}3$, $1{\times}0$, $1{\times}1$, $1{\times}3$, $3{\times}0$, $3{\times}1$, and $3{\times}3$). Forty participants volunteered in the experiment. The completion time, error rate, identification discomfort, and control discomfort were measured. The results revealed that the touch key sizes of $7{\times}7$ and $7{\times}4$ provide the best performance in terms of the error rate measure, while the touch key size of $7{\times}7$ provides the best results for other measures. In addition, touch key spacings of $1{\times}1$, $1{\times}3$ and $3{\times}1$ are regarded as the best for all the measures. The results of this study suggest a practical approach for the small touch key design for the smart phones.

Keywords

References

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