Zhenqing WU
Hongbo MENG
Xiaoda LU
Yongkang GUO
Yao DING
To develop a statistically reliable analysis on
possible factors that may have influence on
the usability of Chinese input on mobile
phones.
Usability
◦ Average typing speed
◦ Error rate
◦ User satisfaction
Measurement User Environment Text
Surveyor Age Temperature Difficulty
Concentration Lightness Punctuation
Mandarin
level Background noise Length
Usability
Key size Pinyin Touch-screen
Layout Hand-writing Button
Key shape Stroke Screen size
Keypad Input method Input device
Input methods
◦ Pinyin
◦ Stroke
Input devices
◦ Touch-screen
◦ Button
Keypad layout
◦ Numeric keypad
◦ Full keypad
Associating input
Fonts
Screen contrast
Screen brightness
Environment factors
Differences among subjects
◦ Mandarin level
◦ Chinese input habit
◦ Concentration
Differences among testing materials
–- Testing material design guidelines
◦ 不是成句的词组形式，否则输入法处理过于简易；
◦ 句式不可过于复杂，避免因此而导致的测试者之间的噪音；
◦ 句子长度控制在20字左右为佳；
◦ 句子之间的标点应该保持一致，避免因为标点转换而造成的时间差
异。
1. 曾经有一段很美好的爱情在我面前，但我却没有珍
惜。
2. 无偿献血是公民应尽的义务，挽救生命是你我的职
责。
3. 足球周刊是一份十分不错的杂志，只是售价常常太
贵。
4. 今晚六点在大礼堂召开总结大会，请代表们准时出
席。
5. 唐代是诗歌最光辉的顶点，涌现了一大批杰出的诗
人。
6. 我在一楼第二候车室等你，火车晚上九点就要出发
了。
7. 最近做事丢三落四，出门的时候竟然忘了带上电源
Combination Input method Keypad layout Input device
A Pinyin Numeric keypad Touch-screen
B Pinyin Numeric keypad Button
C Pinyin Full keyboard Touch-screen
D Pinyin Full keyboard Button
E Stroke Numeric keypad Touch-screen
F Stroke Numeric keypad Button
6*6 Latin square design
Testing Subject
material 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 A F E D C B
2 B A F E D C
3 C B A F E D
4 D C B A F E
5 E D C B A F
6 F E D C B A
Average typing speed
◦ Stop watch
Error rate
◦ Number of clicking “backspace”
To eliminate the two nuisance sources of
variability:
◦ The test material used
◦ The different subject chosen for the test
• Since there are six treatments, six
subjects are chosen and they are
tested on six different test materials.
Model:
yi=µ+αi+βj+τk+ξijk
Data for input time and input speed are collected as follows:
Input time:
◦ Significantly different among treatments
◦ Insignificant difference among subjects and
materials
Input accuracy
◦ Significantly different among subjects
◦ Insignificant difference among treatments and
materials
At first a 23 full factorial design
Swapped to separately process pinyin input
data and stroke input data
◦ No possible combination of full keyboard and
stroke
◦ People stick with one preference among pinyin
input method and stroke input method
22 full factorial design
Deal with different combinations of subjects
and materials as replicates of each design (No
significant effect is shown in the Latin square
analysis)
标准化效应的正态图
（响应为 Speed，Alpha = .05)
99
效应类型
不显著
95 显著
90 因子 名称
A Key Layout
80 B B Key Type
70
百分比
60
50 A
40
30
20
10
5
1
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
标准化效应
Effect of factors
◦ Numeric keyboard would increase speed
◦ Button keys would increase speed
Best Combination:
◦ Numeric keyboard + Button keys
Worst Combination:
◦ Full keyboard + Touch screen
Two-sample t-test
◦ P-Value=0.672>α
◦ No significant difference
Consideration of user habits
Sample size
Factor -1 +1
A Pinyin Stroke
B Numeric keypad Full keyboard
C Touch-screen Button
Treatment Input Method Key Layout Key Type Provider
A Pinyin Numeric keypad Touch-screen 高斐
B Pinyin Numeric keypad Button 赵阳
C Pinyin Full keyboard Touch-screen 高斐
D Pinyin Full keyboard Button 王喆
E Stroke Numeric keypad Touch-screen 高斐
F Stroke Numeric keypad Button 赵阳
G Stroke Full keyboard Button
效应的正态图 Subject 1
（响应为 C10，Alpha = .20)
99
效应类型
不显著
95 显著
90
80
因子
A
名称
A Pinyin is very
70
B
C
B
C
helpful
百分比
60
50
40
30
20
A
10
5
1
-100 -50 0 50
效应
Lenth 的 PSE = 30.375
Most users
Need more factors to do future
experiment
效应的正态图 Most users
（响应为 C8，Alpha = .05)
99
效应类型
不显著
95 显著
90
因子 名称
80 A A
B B
70 C C
百分比
60
50
40
30
20
10
5
1
-100 -50 0 50 100
效应
Lenth 的 PSE = 43.75
Need more factors to do future
experiment
效应的正态图 Subject 1
（响应为 C11，Alpha = .05)
99
效应类型
不显著
95 显著
90
80
因子
A
名称
A
input method
70
B
C
B
C
and key
type(touch or
百分比
60
50
40 button)
30
20
AC
10
5
1
-3 -2 -1 0 1
效应
Lenth 的 PSE = 0.375
效应的正态图 Most users
（响应为 C12，Alpha = .05)
99
效应类型
不显著
95 显著
90
80
因子
A
名称
A whether the
70
B
C
B
C
input method is
Pinyin or Stroke
百分比
60
50
40
B
and whether the
key layout is
30
20
10
A full or numberic
5 keyboard are
very critical.
1
-1.5 -1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5
效应
Lenth 的 PSE = 0.125
For the input speed, each people may have
different significant factors, for the most
users, it seems like that we have to include
other factors to give further conclusion.
For the input accuracy, people may have
different significant factors just like their
impact on input speed, however, for the most
users, we can conclude, that Pinyin and
Numeric keypad are very helpfull to reduce
the error rate.
Content
◦ Basic information of subjects
◦ Indices rating from 1 to 7
Shortcomings Key
Input
Method
◦ Limited number of subjects Layout
◦ Varied rating tendency Key
Type
◦ Underlying interactions
User Satisfaction
Relationship between Pinyin is preferred while stroke
and possess a high variation
Relationship between Button and touch-screen posses
and similar rating, and all vary
significantly
Full
keyboard
Relationship between Treatment B(Num) and C(Full),
and satisfy users than others,
while D(Full) from
other Nums significantly
Input method and key layout Underlying interactions
share in user exist
satisfaction
was found between
key type and other two variables, speed and error rate
Thanks!