Design and Usability Evaluation of Foot Interfaces for Dynamic Text Editing

Abstract

The objective of this study was to design and evaluate the use of foot pedal controls for dynamic text editing. An experiment was conducted to assess whether the new foot control method would improve editing performance, compared to conventional mouse use, and to identify specific types of foot control most convenient for users. Four prototype methods involving use of two foot pedals vs. one pedal with zero-order or first order control were developed and tested against mousing in an editing task with dynamic changes in text size (e.g., instant messaging). Prototype methods involving first order control were found to be comparable to the mouse method in task completion time, accuracy and subjective workload. Among the four prototypes, foot control using two pedals with first order control was superior to the other methods, in performance. Consequently, foot pedals may be effectively utilized in computing operations, particularly dynamic text editing tasks, as an alternative or additional input device. Furthermore, such methods may be particularly suited for special populations.