Performance of the five-point grip pen in three screen-based tasks

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Ergonomics
• Usability Engineering

Background:

• Ergonomic design of input devices is crucial for efficient computer use.
• Understanding the impact of physical characteristics like handbreadth on device performance is essential.
• Previous research has not comprehensively evaluated grip pen variations across diverse tasks and user hand sizes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the influence of Five-Point Grip Pen brace shape and size on user performance across writing, point-and-clicking, and drawing tasks.
• To determine the optimal brace configuration considering user handbreadth and task type.
• To correlate objective performance measures with subjective user preferences.

Main Methods:

• Thirty-two participants (16 males, 16 females) representing four handbreadth groups (Taiwanese laborers) evaluated nine grip pen braces (3 shapes x 3 sizes).
• Performance was assessed via task completion time and error rates for writing, point-and-clicking, and drawing.
• Subjective user preferences were also recorded and compared with performance data.

Main Results:

• The natural brace shape consistently outperformed ball and ball-and-brick shapes across all tasks.
• For writing, small braces were optimal for all handbreadth groups, while large braces were least effective.
• Large and medium braces were suitable for drawing, but small braces were unsuitable for wider hands; large braces excelled in point-and-clicking.

Conclusions:

• The natural brace shape offers superior performance for diverse screen interactions.
• Optimal brace size is task-dependent: small for writing, large for point-and-clicking, and medium/large for drawing.
• Ergonomic grip pen design should consider both brace shape and size in conjunction with user hand anthropometry for enhanced usability.