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Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
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Visual Search for Grouped versus Ungrouped Icons in a Computer Interface

Marketta Niemelä

University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

Jukka Saarinen

University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

The paradigm of visual search was used to investigate how participants looked for a target file among distracter files in an icon-based computer interface. The purpose of these experiments was to study the effect of icons and spatial grouping on scanning speed. Does spatial grouping of identical icons increase the scanning speed? Do icons themselves speed up the search for a target file when compared with a condition in which the files are indicated with mere textual labels? Our results showed that both the presence of icons and their grouping had a significant positive effect on the scanning speed. Potential applications of this research include the design of graphics-based interfaces, such as the effective arrangement of icons in an interface.

Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Vol. 42, No. 4, 630-635 (2000)
DOI: 10.1518/001872000779697999
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A. Murata and N. Furukawa
Relationships Among Display Features, Eye Movement Characteristics, and Reaction Time in Visual Search
Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, January 1, 2005; 47(3): 598 - 612.
[Abstract] [PDF]