Keyboard entry

✍ Scribed by Edmund T. Klemmer

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1971
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 508 KB
• Volume: 2
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0003-6870
• DOI: 10.1016/0003-6870(71)90002-0

✦ Synopsis

Many recent studies of keyboard entry are summarized with particular emphasis on performance data and fundamental questions about the design of keyboards. The role of auditory and visual feedback and physiological measurements are reviewed. Typical speed and error rates are given for several types of situations and operators. Other methods of data entry are considered, as are source documents, ordering of keys, keyboard interlocks, and chord keyboards. These data should be of interest to anyone concerned with the design and use of keyboards or other data entry devices.

Performance is the ultimate criterion for any keyboard performance in the operating system. The operating system may involve full-time operators pressing 75 000 keys every day or it may involve a production worker entering just a few numbers, but overall there are perhaps a hundred million people entering data via keyboards every day. Since performance is the criterion, we will first look at some typical performance figures for keyboard entry tasks and review how this performance varies with type of source document, coding scheme and keyboard design. Then we will consider the contribution of immediate feedback both internal and external to the operator. Finally we will look at some of the possible contributions of physiological measurements.