A Usability Study of Nomon: A Flexible Interface for Single-Switch Users
Many individuals with severe motor impairments communicate via a single switch—which might be activated by a blink, facial movement, or puff of air. These switches are commonly used as input to scanning systems that allow selection from a 2D grid of options. Nomon is an alternative interface that pr...
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2023
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/152707 |
| _version_ | 1826201969059954688 |
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| author | Bonaker, Nicholas Ryan |
| author2 | Broderick, Tamara |
| author_facet | Broderick, Tamara Bonaker, Nicholas Ryan |
| author_sort | Bonaker, Nicholas Ryan |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Many individuals with severe motor impairments communicate via a single switch—which might be activated by a blink, facial movement, or puff of air. These switches are commonly used as input to scanning systems that allow selection from a 2D grid of options. Nomon is an alternative interface that provides a more flexible layout, not confined to a grid. Previous work suggests that, even when options appear in a grid, Nomon may be faster and easier to use than scanning systems. However, previous work primarily tested Nomon with non–motor-impaired individuals, and evaluation with potential end-users was limited to a single motor-impaired participant. We provide a usability study following seven participants with motor impairments and compare their performance with Nomon against a row-column scanning system. Most participants were faster with Nomon in a picture selection task, while entry rates varied more in a text-entry task. However, we found participants had to click more times per selection using Nomon, motivating future research into mitigating this increased click load. All but one participant preferred using Nomon; most reported it felt faster and had better predictive text. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:59:51Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/152707 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:59:51Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1527072023-11-03T03:37:36Z A Usability Study of Nomon: A Flexible Interface for Single-Switch Users Bonaker, Nicholas Ryan Broderick, Tamara Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Many individuals with severe motor impairments communicate via a single switch—which might be activated by a blink, facial movement, or puff of air. These switches are commonly used as input to scanning systems that allow selection from a 2D grid of options. Nomon is an alternative interface that provides a more flexible layout, not confined to a grid. Previous work suggests that, even when options appear in a grid, Nomon may be faster and easier to use than scanning systems. However, previous work primarily tested Nomon with non–motor-impaired individuals, and evaluation with potential end-users was limited to a single motor-impaired participant. We provide a usability study following seven participants with motor impairments and compare their performance with Nomon against a row-column scanning system. Most participants were faster with Nomon in a picture selection task, while entry rates varied more in a text-entry task. However, we found participants had to click more times per selection using Nomon, motivating future research into mitigating this increased click load. All but one participant preferred using Nomon; most reported it felt faster and had better predictive text. M.Eng. 2023-11-02T20:09:55Z 2023-11-02T20:09:55Z 2023-09 2023-10-03T18:21:19.281Z Thesis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/152707 In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted Copyright retained by author(s) https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/ application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Bonaker, Nicholas Ryan A Usability Study of Nomon: A Flexible Interface for Single-Switch Users |
| title | A Usability Study of Nomon: A Flexible Interface for Single-Switch Users |
| title_full | A Usability Study of Nomon: A Flexible Interface for Single-Switch Users |
| title_fullStr | A Usability Study of Nomon: A Flexible Interface for Single-Switch Users |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Usability Study of Nomon: A Flexible Interface for Single-Switch Users |
| title_short | A Usability Study of Nomon: A Flexible Interface for Single-Switch Users |
| title_sort | usability study of nomon a flexible interface for single switch users |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/152707 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bonakernicholasryan ausabilitystudyofnomonaflexibleinterfaceforsingleswitchusers AT bonakernicholasryan usabilitystudyofnomonaflexibleinterfaceforsingleswitchusers |