A Study of Orientation-Neutral Cursors

Very little research exists on the topic of computer cursor design and utilization. Since this is an important area in successful and efficient user interaction with graphical user interfaces, additional study is necessary. To investigate the impact of cursors with no implicit directional cues (orientation-neutral cursors) on movement time, positioning performance, and stimulus-response compatibility, six experiments were designed. In these experiments, six orientation-neutral cursors were compared against each other as well as against four directional cursors. All experiments measured two dependent variables, movement time and positioning performance. Statistical analysis tests revealed a correlation for some cursor types between the two dependent variables, while changing target shapes indicated no statistical significance on the overall results. This study concludes that there is no one cursor of those tested that performed best for anyone. This research should be especially useful to professionals in Computer Science or Cognitive Psychology interested in HCI, design of Graphical User Interfaces, or mental representations of visual space.

M.S. Computer Science: Studied Software Systems and Human Computer Interaction (HCI) at The University of Montana. Senior Support Engineer at Microsoft Corporation, TX.