Abstract
KSPC is the number of keystrokes, on average, to generate each character of text in a given language using a given text entry technique. We systematically describe the calculation of KSPC and provide examples across a variety of text entry techniques. Values for English range from about 10 for methods using only cursor keys and a select key to about 0.5 for word prediction techniques. It is demonstrated that KSPC is useful for a priori analyses, thereby supporting the characterisation and comparison of text entry methods before labour-intensive implementations and evaluations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bellman, T., and MacKenzie, I. S. A probabilistic character layout strategy for mobile text entry, Proc. Graphics Interface’ 98. Toronto: Canadian Information Processing Society (1998) 168–176.
Card, S. K., Moran, T. P., and Newell, A. The psychology of human-computer interaction, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum (1983).
Francis, W. N., and Kucera, H. Standard sample of present-day American English, Providence, RI: Brown University (1964).
Grinter, R. E., and Eldridge, M. A. Y do tngrs luv 2 txt msg? Proc. ECSCW 2001. Amsterdam: Kluwer Academic Press (2001) 219–238.
Kaindl, H. Methods and modeling: Fiction or useful reality? Extended Abstracts CHI 2001. New York: ACM (2001) 213–214.
Keele, S. W., and Posner, M. I. Processing of visual feedback in rapid movements, J. Exp. Psyc. 77(1968)155–158.
MacKenzie, I. S., Kober, H., Smith, D., Jones, T., and Skepner, E. LetterWise: Prefix-based disambiguation for mobile text input, Proc. UIST 2001. New York: ACM (2001) 111–120.
Rau, H., and Skiena, S. S. Dialing for documents: An experiment in information theory, Proc. UIST’ 94. New York: ACM (1994) 147–155.
Silfverberg, M., MacKenzie, I. S., and Korhonen, P. Predicting text entry speed on mobile phones, Proc. CHI 2000. New York: ACM (2000) 9–16.
Soukoreff, W., and MacKenzie, I. S. Theoretical upper and lower bounds on typing speeds using a stylus and soft keyboard, Behaviour & Information Technology 14 (1995) 370–379.
Welford, A. T. Fundamentals of skill, London: Methuen, 1968.
Zhai, S., Hunter, M., and Smith, B. A. The Metropolis keyboard: An exploration of quantitative techniques for graphical keyboard design, Proc. UIST 2000. New York: ACM (2000) 119–128.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2002 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
MacKenzie, I.S. (2002). KSPC (Keystrokes per Character) as a Characteristic of Text Entry Techniques. In: Paternò, F. (eds) Human Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices. Mobile HCI 2002. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 2411. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45756-9_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45756-9_16
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-44189-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-45756-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive