skip to main content
10.1145/2556288.2556976acmconferencesArticle/Chapter ViewAbstractPublication PageschiConference Proceedingsconference-collections
research-article

The usability of CommandMaps in realistic tasks

Published: 26 April 2014 Publication History

Abstract

CommandMaps are a promising interface technique that flattens command hierarchies and exploits human spatial memory to provide rapid access to commands. CommandMaps have performed favorably in constrained cued-selection studies, but have not yet been tested in the context of real tasks. In this paper we present two real-world implementations of CommandMaps: one for Microsoft Word and one for an image editing program called Pinta. We use these as our experimental platforms in two experiments. In the first, we show that CommandMaps demonstrate performance and subjective advantages in a realistic task. In the second, we observe naturalistic use of CommandMaps over the course of a week, and gather qualitative data from interviews, questionnaires, and conversations. Our results provide substantial insight into users' reactions to CommandMaps, showing that they are positively received by users and allowing us to provide concrete recommendations to designers regarding when and how they should be implemented in real applications.

Supplementary Material

ZIP File (pn0189-file4.zip)
suppl.mov (pn0189-file3.mp4)
Supplemental video

References

[1]
Chapuis, O. and Roussel, N. Metisse is not a 3D desktop! in UIST '05, ACM, NY, USA, 2005, 13--22.
[2]
Cockburn, A. and Gutwin, C. A Predictive Model of Human Performance with Scrolling and Hierarchical Lists. Hum.-Comp. Interaction 24, 3 (2009), 273--314.
[3]
Cockburn, A., Gutwin, C. and Alexander, J. Faster Document Navigation with Space-Filling Thumbnails. in Proc. CHI '06, ACM Press, (2006), 1--10.
[4]
Cockburn, A., Gutwin, C. and Greenberg, S. A Predictive Model of Menu Performance. in Proc. CHI '07, ACM Press, (2007), 627--636.
[5]
Duh, H.B.-L., Tan, G.C.B. and Chen, V.H.-h. Usability evaluation for mobile device: a comparison of laboratory and field tests. in MobileHCI '06, 181--186.
[6]
Gutwin, C. and Cockburn, A. Improving List Revistation with ListMaps. in Proc. AVI '06, 396--403.
[7]
Hart, S. and Staveland, L. Development of NASA-TLX. in Human Mental Workload, 1988, 139--183.
[8]
Hertzum, M. User testing in industry: A case study of laboratory, workshop, and field tests. in User interfaces for all. Proc. 5. ERCIM workshop, (1999), 59--72.
[9]
Hochheiser, H. and Shneiderman, B. Performance Benefits of Simultaneous Over Sequential Menus. IJHCI 12, 2 (2000), 173--192.
[10]
Kabay, M.E. A discussion of the Microsoft office fluent user interface. Ubiquity 2008, March (2008), 1--4.
[11]
Kaptelinin, V. Item Recognition in Menu Selection: The Effect of Practice. in InterCHI '93, 183--184.
[12]
Kurtenbach, G., Fitzmaurice, G.W., Owen, R.N. and Baudel, T. The Hotbox: efficient access to a large number of menu-items. in CHI '99, ACM, 231--237.
[13]
Lafreniere, B., Bunt, A., Whissell, J.S., Clarke, C.L.A. and Terry, M. Characterizing large-scale use of a direct manipulation application in the wild. in GI 2010, 11--18.
[14]
Mackay, W.E. and Fayard, A.-L. HCI, natural science and design: a framework for triangulation across disciplines. in DIS '97, ACM, Amsterdam, 223--234.
[15]
MacKenzie, I.S. HCI: An Empirical Research Perspective. Elsevier Science, 2012.
[16]
Malacria, S., Bailly, G., Harrison, J., Cockburn, A. and Gutwin, C. Promoting hotkey use through rehearsal with ExposeHK. in CHI '13, ACM, Paris, 573--582.
[17]
McGrath, J. Methodology Matters: Doing Research in the Behavioral and Social Sciences. in Readings in Hum.-Comp. Interaction: Towards the Year 2000, 1995.
[18]
Miller, D. The depth/breadth tradeoff in hierarchical computer menus. in Proc. HFES, (1981), 296--300.
[19]
Newell, A. and Rosenbloom, P.S. Mechanisms of Skill Acquisition and the Law of Practice. in Anderson, J. ed. Cog. Skills & Acquisition, Erlbaum, 1981, 1--55.
[20]
Nielsen, C.M., Overgaard, M., Pedersen, M.B., Stage, J. and Stenild, S. It's worth the hassle!: the added value of evaluating the usability of mobile systems in the field. in NordiCHI '06, ACM, Oslo, Norway, 2006, 272--280.
[21]
Robertson, G., Czerwinski, M., Larson, K., Robbins, D., Thiel, D. and van Dantzich, M. Data Mountain. In UIST '98, (1998), 153--162.
[22]
Scarr, J., Cockburn, A. and Gutwin, C. Supporting and exploiting spatial memory in user interfaces. Foundations and Trends® in HCI 6, 1 (2013), 1--84.
[23]
Scarr, J., Cockburn, A., Gutwin, C. and Bunt, A. Improving command selection with CommandMaps. in CHI '12, ACM, Austin, Texas, USA, 2012, 257--266.
[24]
Shneiderman, B. Direct Manipulation: A Step Beyond Programming Languages (excerpt). in Readings in HCI: A Multidisciplinary Approach, 1987, 461--467.

Cited By

View all
  • (2021)The Image of the Interface: How People Use Landmarks to Develop Spatial Memory of Commands in Graphical InterfacesProceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3411764.3445050(1-17)Online publication date: 6-May-2021
  • (2019)Anchoring Effects and Troublesome Asymmetric Transfer in Subjective RatingsProceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3290605.3300592(1-12)Online publication date: 2-May-2019
  • (2018)FingerArc and FingerChordProceedings of the 31st Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology10.1145/3242587.3242589(347-363)Online publication date: 11-Oct-2018
  • Show More Cited By

Index Terms

  1. The usability of CommandMaps in realistic tasks

    Recommendations

    Comments

    Information & Contributors

    Information

    Published In

    cover image ACM Conferences
    CHI '14: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
    April 2014
    4206 pages
    ISBN:9781450324731
    DOI:10.1145/2556288
    Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than the author(s) must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected].

    Sponsors

    Publisher

    Association for Computing Machinery

    New York, NY, United States

    Publication History

    Published: 26 April 2014

    Permissions

    Request permissions for this article.

    Check for updates

    Author Tags

    1. commandmaps
    2. hierarchies
    3. real tasks
    4. spatial memory

    Qualifiers

    • Research-article

    Conference

    CHI '14
    Sponsor:
    CHI '14: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
    April 26 - May 1, 2014
    Ontario, Toronto, Canada

    Acceptance Rates

    CHI '14 Paper Acceptance Rate 465 of 2,043 submissions, 23%;
    Overall Acceptance Rate 6,199 of 26,314 submissions, 24%

    Upcoming Conference

    CHI 2025
    ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
    April 26 - May 1, 2025
    Yokohama , Japan

    Contributors

    Other Metrics

    Bibliometrics & Citations

    Bibliometrics

    Article Metrics

    • Downloads (Last 12 months)19
    • Downloads (Last 6 weeks)3
    Reflects downloads up to 16 Feb 2025

    Other Metrics

    Citations

    Cited By

    View all
    • (2021)The Image of the Interface: How People Use Landmarks to Develop Spatial Memory of Commands in Graphical InterfacesProceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3411764.3445050(1-17)Online publication date: 6-May-2021
    • (2019)Anchoring Effects and Troublesome Asymmetric Transfer in Subjective RatingsProceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3290605.3300592(1-12)Online publication date: 2-May-2019
    • (2018)FingerArc and FingerChordProceedings of the 31st Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology10.1145/3242587.3242589(347-363)Online publication date: 11-Oct-2018
    • (2017)A Field Experiment of Spatially-Stable Overviews for Document NavigationProceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3025453.3025905(5905-5916)Online publication date: 2-May-2017
    • (2017)The Effects of Artificial Landmarks on Learning and Performance in Spatial-Memory InterfacesProceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3025453.3025497(3843-3855)Online publication date: 2-May-2017
    • (2016)Supporting Transitions to Expertise in Hidden ToolbarsProceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/2858036.2858412(4687-4698)Online publication date: 7-May-2016
    • (2016)InspectorWidgetProceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/2851581.2892388(1548-1554)Online publication date: 7-May-2016

    View Options

    Login options

    View options

    PDF

    View or Download as a PDF file.

    PDF

    eReader

    View online with eReader.

    eReader

    Figures

    Tables

    Media

    Share

    Share

    Share this Publication link

    Share on social media