Abstract
Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) are small computing devices that support a user's personal organization activities. Because they are small, PDAs have limited memory and display area. The first study determined the values of calendar entry statistics for computer calendar users. These statistics can help architects of PDA calendar programs design their programs to simultaneously (1) satisfy their users' requirements and (2) take up the least possible amount of memory in the PDA. The second study estimated the distribution of U.S. name lengths. This information is useful for designers of PDA software who need to present names to users in touch-screen buttons. The mean length of names was 13.8 characters with a standard deviation of 2.543 (presented in a last name, first name format). Thus, a touch-screen button that can show 20 characters should show a resident of the United State's complete name approximately 99% of the time.
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