Repetitive patterns in the locations of touch errors for two-thumb text entry on a smartphone

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Usability Engineering
• Mobile Device Interaction

Background:

• Soft buttons on smartphones are common for text entry.
• Understanding touch error patterns is crucial for improving user interfaces.
• Two-thumb text entry presents unique interaction challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate repetitive patterns in touch error locations.
• To analyze the influence of button shapes and positions on touch errors.
• To identify specific areas of frequent errors during smartphone text entry.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 43 right-handed college students with smartphone experience.
• Developed an experimental application to measure touch errors.
• Recorded touch error locations and frequencies for various button shapes and positions.

Main Results:

• Over 70% of touch errors occurred within 2mm of button boundaries.
• Touch errors were predominantly observed below buttons across all configurations.
• Lateral errors were linked to thumb proximity and button placement on the keyboard.

Conclusions:

• Button boundaries and proximity to the thumb are key factors in touch errors.
• Error patterns suggest specific design considerations for soft button layouts.
• Optimizing button shape and position can reduce errors in two-thumb text entry.