Towards understanding context of use in mobile text entry
Per Ola Kristensson
In: IUI 2009 Workshop on Users' Preferences Regarding Intelligent User Interfaces: Differences Among Users and Changes Over Time, held in conjunction with the 14th ACM International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI '09)(2009).

Abstract

The small form factor is an unavoidable requirement that cripples optimal mobile text entry design. As a result, all designs of mobile text entry methods are compromises in a multidimensional design space with sometimes unavoidable conflicting requirements. However, these design compromises are not reflected in contemporary evaluations of mobile text entry methods, which so far have been primarily focused on measuring entry rates and error rates of participants using systems while seated in a quiet and private office setting. In actual use, mobile text entry methods are used in heterogeneous situations and settings, for example in noisy public open office environments, in public transit, and on sidewalks. Here we raise four research questions. First, how do users use existing mobile text entry methods? Second, how would users prefer to use mobile text entry? Third, which are the external factors that impact text entry performance in heterogeneous scenarios and contexts of use? Fourth, how do we design flexible mobile text entry systems that switch input modality on-demand or via lightweight user interaction?

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