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The Effect of Screen Boundary, Familiarity, and Data Type on User's Decision to Scroll or Window

Authors:
  • MeasuringU

Abstract

When confronted with the task of moving information on a CRT display, what factors affect the decision to use a window or scroll method? This experiment examined 79 users' decisions to scroll or window based on the type of data, pattern, and movement on a CRT display. Subjects with experience in the control of data on a display preferred to scroll. A significantly greater proportion of users chose to scroll when they were familiar with the pattern displayed and when the movement was constrained within the boundary of the screen. The type of movement also significantly affected the time required to indicate whether the movement was due to scrolling or windowing.
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Article
Two experiments were conducted to determine the optimum mode of operation of the "scroll" keys on a visual display terminal. One mode involved "moving the data"; that is, pressing the "scroll up" key moved the data up, thus displaying data toward the end of the file. The other mode involved "moving the window"; pressing the "window up" key moved the window up, thus displaying data toward the beginning of the file. A total of 281 novice subjects were tested under a variety of experimental conditions. Results showed that in most cases, subjects in the window groups performed significantly faster and with significantly fewer moves than did subjects in the scroll groups. When allowed to "self-define" the system, a significant majority of the subjects defined the system to window. Explaining and demonstrating the appropriate concept had no significant effect on performance, nor did the use of key top graphic "scroll" figures.