From UMPCs to Cell Phones: How Does Diminishing Screen Real Estate Affect Screen Access and Working Memory?

Abstract

The goal of this study was to conduct preliminary research to inform system design for an advanced NASA assembly task. The primary objective of this research was to compare procedure-based task performance with three common mobile screen sizes: Ultra Mobile Personal Computer (7in/17.8cm), Personal Data Assistant (3.5in/8.9cm), and SmartPhone (2.8in/7.1cm). Study participants used these three screen sizes to view and complete a computer maintenance procedure. Results from 65 student participants indicated a significant difference in completion times between the three screen sizes (F(2, 120) = 690, p < 0.050), but no differences in subjectively-assessed cognitive workload, errors, or performance time. Competing task completion strategies were revealed through video analysis of access frequency and amount of time subjects spent reading the procedure before starting the experiment (F(2, 105) = 25.17, p<0.001). The 3.5 inch screen appeared to appropriately balance time spent reading the procedure before task start, and referring to the procedure during task execution.

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