modeling learning effects in mobile texting
No work on mobile text messaging so far has taken into account the effect of learning on the change in visual exploration behavior as users progress from non-expert to expert level. We discuss within the domain of multi-tap texting on mobile phone and address the process of searching versus selecting a letter on the keypad interface. We develop a simulation model that forecasts the probability of letter location recall by non-expert users and thereby models learning, as the user acquires expertise in recalling, with practice, session after session. We then plugin this probability within a model of visual strategy that combines the effect of different ways visual exploration: non-expert users search for a letter while expert users select a letter. The observed non-expert non-motor time preceding a key press (for a letter) correlates extremely well with the simulation results.
learning texting mobile phone visual search non-expert/novice user