Development of a press and drag method for hyperlink selection on smartphones.

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Mobile Device Interaction
• User Interface Design

Background:

• Traditional hyperlink selection on touchscreens can be error-prone, particularly with small targets.
• Existing methods lack efficient error correction mechanisms, leading to user frustration and increased task completion times.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and evaluate a novel touch method for hyperlink selection on smartphones.
• To compare the performance (completion time, error rate) and user satisfaction of the novel method against existing techniques.

Main Methods:

• Development of a sequential press-and-drag touch interaction for hyperlink selection.
• Experimental comparison involving 40 college students interacting with varying hyperlink sizes (4-pt to 10-pt).
• Data collection on task completion time, touch error rates, and subjective user satisfaction using a 7-point bipolar scale.

Main Results:

• The novel press-and-drag method significantly outperformed existing methods in completion time (826 ms vs. 1194 ms) and error rate (0.6% vs. 22%) for small hyperlinks (4-pt, 6-pt).
• Users reported significantly higher satisfaction scores with the novel method (1.15) compared to existing methods (0.06).

Conclusions:

• The novel press-and-drag touch method offers a more efficient and user-friendly approach to hyperlink selection on smartphones.
• This method is particularly beneficial for improving interaction accuracy and speed on devices with limited screen real estate and small interactive elements.