Mnemonic strategies in word processing systems
Avshalom Aderet, Paul J. Hoffman · ACM SIGOA Newsletter · 1984
The useability of character mnemonics in office information systems is discussed and several issues involved in the use of mnemonics as effective design concept are highlighted in the context of word processing tasks. In a series of studies, the mnemonics technique was compared to other user interfaces, such as function-key interface or menu-driven interface. In these studies we found significant differences between novices and experienced operators with respect to ease of performance and ease of recall of word processing operations. Our results suggest that experience plays an important role in operating a mnemonics-driven system compared to a non-mnemonics driven system. Additional research is needed in order to understand the ways by which mnemonics strategies affect the performance of office information systems.