Width guidelines for rectangular objects with penetrable and impenetrable borders

Authors: Farris, J. Shawn¹; Johnson, Brian²; Jones, Keith²

Source: Behaviour and Information Technology, Volume 25, Number 1, Number 1/January-February 2006 , pp. 83-90(8)

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Abstract:

Generally, selection times quicken when objects are placed against a display's edge. Experiment 1 investigated whether or not this continues to be true if the width of those objects, i.e. rectangular scrollbars, was manipulated. The results indicated that increasing width affected selection times for objects with penetrable borders, but not for those with impenetrable borders. A follow-up experiment examined whether or not selection times vary when participants selected very thin and wider scrollbars, each with impenetrable borders. The results indicated that width manipulations did not influence selection time, thus designers could use very thin objects with impenetrable borders without slowing selection time.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01449290500102086

Affiliations: 1: Convergys Corporation 2: Texas Tech University

Publication date: 2006-01-01

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