Milliseconds Matter: An Introduction to Microstrategies and to Their Use in Describing and Predicting Interactive Behavior

Interactive behavior is constrained by the design of the artifacts available (e.g., a mouse and button) as well as by the ways in which elementary cognitive, perceptual, and motor operations can be combined. Any 2 basic activities, for example, (a) moving to and (b) clicking on a button, can be comb...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of experimental psychology. Applied 2000-12, Vol.6 (4), p.322-335
Main Authors: Gray, Wayne D, Boehm-Davis, Deborah A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Cognitive Ability
Computer Literacy
Computer Peripherals
Computer User Training
Female
Human
Human Computer Interaction
Humans
Male
Perceptual Motor Processes
Psychomotor Performance
Reaction Time
Strategies
User-Computer Interface
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Summary:Interactive behavior is constrained by the design of the artifacts available (e.g., a mouse and button) as well as by the ways in which elementary cognitive, perceptual, and motor operations can be combined. Any 2 basic activities, for example, (a) moving to and (b) clicking on a button, can be combined to yield a limited number of microstrategies. The results of an experimental study suggest that alternative microstrategies can be deployed that shave milliseconds from routine interactive behavior. Data from a usability study are used to explore the potential of microstrategies for (a) bracketing the range of individual performance, (b) profiling individual differences, and (c) diagnosing mismatches between expected and obtained performance. These 2 studies support the arguments that the microstrategies deployed can be sensitive to small features of an interface and that task analyses at the millisecond level can inform design.
ISSN:1076-898X
1939-2192
DOI:10.1037/1076-898X.6.4.322