Author: Ravin Balakrishnan

main argument

Virtual interaction techniques do not have to abide by the constraints of Fitts’ law, as interfaces can artificially reduce target distance, increase target width, or both.

supporting arguments

“even a slight improvement in pointing performance can have substantial impact on overall user productivity” (858)

methods and theory

Reducing target distance

  1. Designing widgets that minimize D
  2. Temporarily bringing potential targets to the cursor
  3. Removing empty space between the cursor and targets Increasing target width
  4. Area cursors
  5. Expanding targets Both decreasing D and increasing W
  6. Dynamically changing the control-display gain

conclusion

  • None work uniformly well in all situations
  • Do not scale well to selection of multiple targets
  • Is it even necessary when PDAs and tablet computers are rising in use?