On The Costs Of Multiple Trajectory Pointing Methods

Several enhanced pointing techniques aim to reduce the Fitts' law targeting distance by providing multiple target trajectories in the hope that a shorter path is available. However, these techniques introduce a search or decision component to pointing - users must examine the alternatives available and decide upon the trajectory to use. We analyse these difficulties, present a methodology for examining them as well as other behaviour issues, and report empirical results of performance with pointer wrapping and Ninja cursors. Results show that offering multiple trajectories incurs a significant search or decision cost, and that users are therefore poor at capitalising on the theoretical benefits of reduced target distance.