RotaTxt: Chinese pinyin input with a rotator

ABSTRACT

Chinese text entry solutions for mobile phones are critical, since they get used by most Chinese mobile phone users every day. We designed two new solutions for Chinese pinyin text entry with a rotator as input device. They were evaluated in an empirical study with 12 novice users and compared to a straightforward implementation of the date stamp method. Although there was no significant difference between the three designs on user performance, the perceived efficiency by users was higher for one of the new designs, and it was their technique of choice for their own phone. Because the evaluation setup favored the date stamp method (it was the only one supporting predictive input, and also the most familiar to users), the results are encouraging. We close by discussing how to further develop the new techniques.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)
          Subjects: Input devices and strategies (e.g., mouse, touchscreen)

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)
          Subjects: Interaction styles (e.g., commands, menus, forms, direct manipulation); Evaluation/methodology

General Terms:
Design, Performance

Keywords:
Chinese, input, mobile phone, pinyin, rotator, text entry