title: Investigation of Chinese text entry performance for mobile display interfaces.
abstract: This study examined the effects of panel type, frequency of use and arrangement of phonetic symbols on operation time, usability, visual fatigue and workload in text entry performance. Three types of panel (solid, touch and mixed), three types of frequency of use (low, medium and high) and two types of the arrangement of phonetic symbols (vertical and horizontal) were investigated through 30 college students in the experiment. The results indicated that panel type, frequency of use, arrangement of phonetic symbols and the interaction between panel type and frequency of use were significant factors on operation time. Panel type was also a significant factor on usability, and a touch panel and a solid panel showed better usability than a mixed panel. Furthermore, a touch panel showed good usability and the lowest workload and therefore it is recommended to use a touch panel with vertical phonetic arrangement in sending Chinese text messages. Practitioner Summary: This study found, from ergonomics considerations, that a touch panel showed good usability and it is recommended to use a touch panel with vertical phonetic arrangement in sending Chinese text messages. Mobile display manufacturers can use the results of this study as a reference for future keyboard design.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Industrial Engineering & Management Information , Huafan University , New Taipei City 223 , Taiwan.
authors.forename: Po-Hung
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D040421:Cell Phone / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002681:China; D003626:Data Display; D004867:Equipment Design; D006804:Ergonomics; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D060145:Text Messaging / Q000295:instrumentation*; D014110:Touch; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D016526:Workload; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: arrangement of phonetic symbols; frequency of use; mobile display; panel type; text entry performance