User productivity as a function of AutoCAD interface design

• Published in: Applied ergonomics 1995-12, Vol.26 (6), p.387-395
• Main Authors: Mitta, Deborah A., Flores, Patricia L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: AutoCAD; Biological and medical sciences; CAD; Computer aided design; Ergonomics; Ergonomics. Human factors; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; human-computer interaction; interface evaluation; Occupational psychology; Productivity; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; user productivity
• ISSN: 0003-6870; 1872-9126
• DOI: 10.1016/0003-6870(95)00052-6

Increased operator productivity is a desired outcome of user-CAD interaction scenarios. Two objectives of this research were to (1) define a measure of operator productivity and (2) empirically investigate the potential effects of CAD interface design on operator productivity, where productivity is defined as the percentage of a drawing session correctly completed per unit time. Here, AutoCAD provides the CAD environment of interest. Productivity with respect to two AutoCAD interface designs ( menu, template) and three task types ( draw, dimension, display) was investigated. Analysis of user productivity data revealed significantly higher productivity under the menu interface condition than under the template interface condition. A significant effect of task type was also discovered, where user productivity under display tasks was higher than productivity under the draw and dimension tasks. Implications of these results are presented.