Homework #7:
(Due 12/09/03)
Measuring Fitts' law using a mouse
Overview
For this homework you will build a simple
interface to measure Fitts' law parameters. For this simplified
experiment, you will measure how fast a user can point between 2
squares shown on the screen for different value of the index of
difficulty (ID).
What you have to do
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Design the experimental protocol to run the
study.
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Design a simple interface to measure Fitt's
law parameters. The interface should:
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for each trial, present a start-up screen
so that the user can get ready,
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for each trial, present a pairs of
squares on the screen and let the user first click inside
the left most square then click back and forth between the 2
squares as fast as they can for at least 10 times (users
need to click inside the square each time),
-
for each trial, record the time it took
the user to click between the 2 square (10 samples are
recorded),
-
present a series of trials spanning the
index of difficulty from 2 to 6. For each index of
difficulty, your program should measure at least 3 possible
width/distance combinations. Since you are recording 10
action per condition, your system should at least record 150
trials per users,
-
for each trial, present a completion
screen,
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present a completion screen at the end of
the test.
-
Implement your design. See below for the
implementation guide lines,
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Run your protocol for at least 5 different
users. (If you are using fellow students as subjects you don't
need to apply for a human subject protocol review),
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Write a report describing your experimental
findings.
Implementation
For this project, you have to choose the
specifics of how to implement your project within certain limits.
Platform
All projects must be able to run under Windows
2000 (or NT), or Windows 98. You can expect that the machine you
will be running your project on will have a Java 2 virtual
machine, and can execute Flash web pages. Finally you can expect
the computer to have at least a CD-ROM drive.
Software
You are free to pick any programming languages
(C++, Virtual Basic, C#, Java, Flash, Director...) and
development environment you wish as long as the resulting
program runs on the configuration described under the Platform
section.
Deliverables
Your homework should contain:
-
(40 points) A description of your protocol
including:
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your hypothesis,
-
the independent and dependent variables,
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the possible confounding variables in
your setting,
-
your target population and the consent
form you used,
-
how you ran each subjects (including the
check list followed by the experimenter)
-
(20 points) The executable code (in running
order),
Please, specify accurately your platform, operating system, language
used, needed software, which file to run.
-
(20 points) A presentation of your
experimental results including the problems you encountered
during the experiment,
-
(20 points) An explanation of the
discrepancies between predicted and measured times.
No statistical analysis is necessary for this
homework.
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