Single-Handed HandMark Menus: Rapid Command Selection on Tablets

Abstract

Although rapid command selection is important for touch devices, only a few techniques allow accelerated selection while still providing a large command set. HandMark menus [3] propose the use of the hands as landmarks for fast memory-based selection. However, the original HandMark menus for tables rely on bimanual operation - not suitable for tablets, and earlier studies provided only limited evidence for the value of hand-based landmarks as a reference frame for spatial memory. We introduce adapted HandMark menus that can be operated with one hand (while the other hand holds the tablet); the new version changes bimanual selection operations into sequential actions with one hand. Three studies of these HandMark menus showed that using the hand as a landmark significantly improved performance and allowed fast spatial memory development, even with one-handed use. Our work extends HandMark menus and shows that they are an effective selection method for tablets, and provides new evidence about the value of the hands as a spatial landmark for interaction.