NUX Leeds - 28 August 2014
Designing usable number entry interfaces
By Sarah Wiseman (@oopsohno)
For years research has been conducted in the field of text entry, and has led to some innovative designs for alphabetic text entry interfaces, but little attention has been paid to the way we enter numbers.
Number entry is a highly pervasive task, whether it be entering our PIN at an ATM, or dialing a phone number to entering in financial data or medical information. Sarah Wiseman investigates number entry interfaces, and looks at the important aspects to consider when designing them.
http://nuxuk.org/2014/06/26/nux-leeds-28-aug-usable-number-entry
4. Mars Climate Orbiter
• Determine distribution of water on Mars!
• Monitor daily weather conditions!
• Determine temperature of atmosphere!
• Look for evidence of climate change
5. Mars Climate Orbiter
• Determine distribution of water on Mars!
• Monitor daily weather conditions!
• Determine temperature of atmosphere - REALLY HOT!
• Look for evidence of climate change
6. Mars Climate Orbiter
Lesson: !
Remember that numbers sometimes
mean something - not just random strings
31. Words and non-words
Last night the Great British Bake Off was shocking
little bit faster than
British was night Great shocking Last Off the Bake
faster than
Proum flim shoyar larof quask tullep exuge serah
faster than
Rteu fgdwww weqk sreemg wkgj gfmss mnoaish
32. Effect of words versus !
non words
Faster
Larger copy span
Larger look-ahead
I think the editors need to answer for their actions
36. Results of Familiarity
Interkeypress interval ms
400
350
300
250
200
Words Numbers
Familiar Non Familiar
37. Test with Realistic Numbers
Lesson: !
You wouldn’t test text entry with random
strings, don’t test number entry with them
38. Number Entry - !
Points to think about
• Number mean something, they aren’t just shapes!
• Number errors are big problem, and they are hard
to spot!
• Think about how your interface could be tailored,
keypad isn’t the only way!
• Don’t treat random numbers as though they are
representative - familiarity matters
39. Thanks, go and do really
good number entry stuff!
@oopsohno
www.swiseman.co.uk
40. • Deininger, R. L. (1960). Human factors engineering
studies of the design and use of pushbutton
telephone sets. Bell System Technical Journal, 39,
995–1012. !
• Retrieved from
http://www.vcalc.net/touchtone_hf.pdf