Using GOMS for user interface design and evaluation

Abstract

Since the seminal book, The Psychology of Human-Computer Interaction , the GOMS model has been one of the few widely known theoretical concepts in human-computer interaction. This concept has spawned much research to verify and extend the original work and has been used in real-world design and evaluation situations. This article synthesizes the previous work on GOMS to provide an integrated view of GOMS models and how they can be used in design. We briefly describe the major variants of GOMS that have matured sufficiently to be used in actual design. We then provide guidance to practitioners about which GOMS variant to use for different design situations. Finally, we present examples of the application of GOMS to practical design problems and then summarize the lessons learned.