Comparison of Three QWERTY Keyboards for a Smartwatch

Abstract

The QWERTY keyboard has been a de facto standard for computer text entry and continues to be one for mobile text entry such as for smartphones. It is not clear, however, that it will continue to be an option for text entry for much smaller devices such as smartwatches. In a series of user experiments, we examined the performance of the QWERTY keyboard when it is reduced to fit a small smartwatch screen. At the same time, we examined whether the ZoomBoard and the SplitBoard, which are QWERTY keyboards augmented by zooming and panning strategies, respectively, would be effective in comparison with a plain QWERTY keyboard. In Experiment 1, we evaluated the text entry performance of new users on the three QWERTY keyboards. In Experiment 2, we evaluated the relative performance of the three keyboards for three different screen sizes. In Experiment 3, we further observed how the keyboard performance changed when used in a mobile situation. Main results are: (i) users could adapt to a plain QWERTY keyboard even in the smallest screen cases. (ii) The SplitBoard consistently showed a better performance than other keyboards in all tested sizes. (iii) The SplitBoard showed a better performance than other keyboards in a mobile condition (treadmill) and was preferred most by participants. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS • We examined the performances of the ZoomBoard and the SplitBoard in comparison with a plain QWERTY keyboard for three different screen size conditions and for static and mobile usage conditions. • The SplitBoard showed a better performance than the other keyboards consistently in all conditions and was preferred most by the participants. • In addition, we could observe that the participants could adapt to a plain QWERTY keyboard surprisingly well even in the smallest screen case.

Typing on a Smartwatch While Mobile: A Comparison of Input Methods

“…Additionally, all three studies found typing performance significantly worsened while walking than when standing, as it does on a smartphone. Hong et al (2016) and Darbar et al (2016) reported typing speeds ranging from 8 to 15 WPM when walking or standing with alternative keyboards and 5 to 13 WPM with a standard QWERTY keyboard using tap input. Turner et al (2018) reported typing speeds of 35 WPM with trace and 30 WPM with tap using a standard QWERTY keyboard when walking or standing.…”

“…However, the walking scenarios employed in each study varied. Hong et al (2016) and Turner et al (2018) simulated the walking task using a treadmill. Darbar et al (2016) had participants perform a naturalistic walking scenario, but the details of the walking scenario were not provided.…”

“…Although walking and typing is a common user behavior with a smartphone, only three studies to date have evaluated typing performance on a smartwatch in mobile scenarios: Hong et al (2016), Darbar et al (2016), and Turner et al (2018). All three studies found that typing on a smartwatch while standing and while walking is feasible using a variety of input methods, although trace input seems to be particularly well suited.…”

Comparative Evaluation of Usability between QWERTY-Based Arabic and Non-QWERTY-Based Arabic Keyboard Layout: Empirical Evidence

“…Both objective and subjective data were taken from the participants. We learned that similar measurements were successfully employed for comparing several keyboard layouts, such as in [35] for accuracy and typing speed of linear QWERTY keyboard layouts, in [36] for relative error rate of a smartwatch keyboard layout, and in [40] for typing speed, error rate, and learning time of Bangla keyboard layouts. However, the different contexts and limitations of resources caused some variations in the detailed formula and application of those measurements.…”

“…An important aspect of keyboards is the keyboard layout, that is any specific arrangement of the keys, legends, or key-meaning associations (respectively) of a computer keyboard [8]. This arrangement can be mechanical/physical [9] [10], visual [9], or functional/logical [9] [11]. The mechanical/physical layout is the placements of keys of a keyboard [9] [10].…”