BinScroll: a rapid selection technique for alphanumeric lists

ABSTRACT

We present a new, efficient technique to find an alphanumeric item in a sorted list. Our technique, called BinScroll, is based on binary search, the well-known computer science search algorithm. BinScroll can be used with a minimum of four buttons, making it ideal for keyboardless mobile use. It can also be implemented with a minimum of three lines of text, making it suitable for devices with limited screen space. Our initial evaluation showed that after 15 minutes of training, a novel user is able to locate any item from a list of 10 000 movie names in 14 seconds on average.

REFERENCES

• 1: Christopher Ahlberg , Ben Shneiderman, The alphaslider: a compact and rapid selector, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems: celebrating interdependence, p.365-371, April 24-28, 1994, Boston, Massachusetts, United States [doi>10.1145/191666.191790]

INDEX TERMS

Keywords:
alphanumeric list, binary search, mobile computing, selection technique