A morphological analysis of the design space of input devices
Stuart K. Card, Jock D. Mackinlay, George G. Robertson · ACM Transactions on Information Systems · 1991
The market now contains a bewildering variety of input devices for communication from humans to computers.This paper discusses a means to systematize these devices through morphological design space analysis, in which different input device designs are taken as points in a parametrically described design space.The design space is characterized by finding methods to generate and test design points.In a previous paper, we discussed a method for generating the space of input device designs using primitive and compositional movement operators.This allowed us to propose a taxonomy of input devices.In this paper, we summarize the generation method and explore the use of device footprint and Fitts's law as a test.We then use calculations to reason about the design space.Calculations are used to show why the mouse is a more effective device than the headmouse and where in the design space there is likely to be a more effective device than the mouse.