The Effect of Graphic Input Devices on Performance in a Cursor Positioning Task

This study examines the effect of several graphical input devices on human performance in a cursor positioning task. The light pen, touchscreen, force joystick, position joystick, data tablet, trackboard, and keyboard are the input devices tested. There are two main objectives in the study: (1) to obtain a quantitative measure of user performance for a wide range of input devices, and (2) to provide design guidelines for the development of new input devices. This second goal is reached by determining the effect of two device features on user performance: whether a switch is used to “enter” the cursor position, and (2) whether the user's eyes and hands work together or separately. Performance is evaluated in terms of speed, accuracy, and subjective factors.