Mode displaying mouse cursors for reducing input language mode confusion: Utility and user attitude evaluation.

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Usability Engineering
• Typing Performance

Background:

• Input language mode confusion (ILMC) is a common issue causing typing errors for multilingual users.
• Existing solutions for ILMC are limited, necessitating the exploration of novel interface designs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of two mode display cursors (MDCs) – monochrome and color-changing – in mitigating ILMC.
• To assess user preference, acceptance, and annoyance associated with the evaluated MDCs.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments were conducted involving 45 participants for Experiment 1 (ILMC and error evaluation) and 30 participants for Experiment 2 (usability dimensions).
• Participants performed multi-language typing tasks with an ordinary cursor, a monochrome MDC, and a color-changing MDC.
• Usability dimensions including ILMC, typing errors, preference, acceptance, and annoyance were measured.

Main Results:

• The color-changing MDC significantly reduced ILMC and associated typing errors compared to the ordinary mouse cursor (p < .001).
• Experiment 2 revealed a significantly higher mean annoyance rating for the color-changing MDC compared to the monochrome MDC (p = .037).

Conclusions:

• Color-changing MDCs show promise in reducing typing errors stemming from ILMC.
• Further research is needed to balance the error-reduction benefits of color-changing MDCs with potential user annoyance.