Smartphone Input Method Performance, Satisfaction, Workload, and Preference with Younger and Older Novice Adults
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SMARTPHONE INPUT METHOD PERFORMANCE, SATISFACTION, WORKLOAD, AND PREFERENCE WITH YOUNGER AND OLDER NOVICE ADULTS A Dissertation by Amanda Lynn Smith Master of Arts, Wichita State University, 2009 Bachelor of Arts, University of Kansas, 2003 Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Kansas, 2003 Submitted to the Department of Psychology and the faculty of the Graduate School of Wichita State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2013 © Copyright 2013 by Amanda Smith All Rights Reserved SMARTPHONE INPUT MEHOD PERFORMANCE, SATISFACTION, WORKLOAD, AND PREFERENCE WITH YOUNGER AND OLDER NOVICE ADULTS The following faculty members have examined the final copy of this dissertation for form and content, and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Psychology. Barbara S. Chaparro, Committee Chair Alex Chaparro, Committee Member Evan Palmer, Committee Member Darwin Dorr, Committee Member Anthony DiLollo, Committee Member Accepted for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Ronald Matson, Dean Accepted for the Graduate School Abu S. Masud, Interim Dean iii DEDICATION To the one who gives me eskimo kisses iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am sincerely grateful to my advisor, Dr. Barbara Chaparro. I would not have been able to reach this milestone without her unwavering patience, encouragement, and guidance throughout the dissertation process; likewise, through all of my years in graduate school. Thank you for always being so understanding and generous with your time. You are truly appreciated, and I am excited to learn more from you in the coming years! I extend my gratitude to my defense committee members, Dr. Alex Chaparro, Dr. Evan Palmer, Dr. Darwin Dorr, and Dr. Anthony DiLollo, for their time, effort, advice, and helpful criticism. I want to thank the Chaparros, Rondell Burge, and Curtis Lauterbach for allowing me to borrow key pieces of equipment during data collection. I also wish to thank Tyler Crocco for her help with data entry. Lastly, and most importantly, I must acknowledge my family. My husband Daniel has been absolutely instrumental in this process. He has shared in the sacrifices that accompany graduate studentship, and has supported me through all of it. He did not even complain (excessively)! As far as I am concerned, this is your degree, too. I also mention Emma, our daughter, who has simultaneously been the greatest impediment in finishing this project and the strongest reason to finish. I am extremely thankful for my parents, who have always encouraged me and devoted so much of their time and energy so that I could be successful. I hope that I have made both of you proud. I love you all very much. v ABSTRACT Smartphones have dominated the American mobile phone market since mid-2012 (Nielsen, 2012). Forty-five percent of American adults own smartphones (Smith, 2012), and report frequently using their devices for the same tasks: text messaging, emailing, and social networking (comScore, 2013), all of which are dependent on text entry. Hardware and/or software text input options are available, but recently vendors have begun to abandon physical keyboards in their device portfolios. Empirical research does not indicate, comparatively, which smartphone text entry methods are the fastest, most accurate, and most preferred by consumers. Furthermore, potential relationships that users' anthropometry, voice qualities and age-related limitations may have with the accuracy and satisfaction of these input methods have not been addressed. Two experiments explored the impact that five frequently used smartphone input methods (physical and onscreen Qwerty keyboards, tracing, handwriting, and voice recognition) had on novice user performance, perceived workload, satisfaction, and preference. Relationships between anthropometry, speech and voice qualities with the input methods were also examined. Results from Study 1 demonstrate that younger adults were fastest with voice recognition, but committed fewer errors, reported lower workload, higher satisfaction, and preference with the physical keyboard. Results from Study 2 revealed that older adults were fastest, most accurate, reported lower workload, higher satisfaction and preference for voice recognition. A comparison between age groups suggested that older adults were generally slower and committed more errors. However, performance differences were not found between age groups for voice recognition entry rates and word error rates, as well as for physical Qwerty uncorrected error rates. Additionally, both groups had similar satisfaction and preference ratings for most methods. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 1 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................................................... 4 3. PURPOSE AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS ...................................................................... 34 4. COMMON METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................ 36 Method ................................................................................................................................. 36 Materials ........................................................................................................................... 36 Questionnaires ............................................................................................................... 36 Screening Tools ............................................................................................................. 36 Baseline Evaluations ..................................................................................................... 37 Smartphone Device and Input ....................................................................................... 38 Phrases ........................................................................................................................... 39 Recording Software ....................................................................................................... 39 Sound Level ................................................................................................................... 39 Procedure .......................................................................................................................... 39 Dependent Measures ......................................................................................................... 42 Adjusted Words per Minute .......................................................................................... 42 Error Rates ..................................................................................................................... 43 Satisfaction .................................................................................................................... 44 Workload ....................................................................................................................... 45 Preference ...................................................................................................................... 46 Results .................................................................................................................................. 46 Data Cleaning.................................................................................................................... 46 Alpha Adjustment ............................................................................................................. 47 Error Bars .......................................................................................................................... 48 Relationship between Measures ........................................................................................ 48 5. STUDY 1 .............................................................................................................................. 49 Purpose ................................................................................................................................. 49 Method .................................................................................................................................. 50 Participants ........................................................................................................................ 50 Materials ........................................................................................................................... 51 Procedure .......................................................................................................................... 51 Results .................................................................................................................................. 51 Adjusted Words per Minute .............................................................................................. 51 Error Rates ........................................................................................................................ 53 Corrected Error Rate ..................................................................................................... 53 vii TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Chapter Page Uncorrected Error Rate ................................................................................................. 54 Total Error Rate ............................................................................................................