A Comparison of Form Navigation with Tabbing and Pointing

Abstract

The form is a widely used metaphor in information gathering. Users typically navigate between form elements using a keyboard or a pointing device. This study set out to empirically compare tabbing and pointing in form navigation using keyboards, mouse, and touch. A controlled experiment was conducted with 20 participants. The results show that there was no difference between the input methods for form completion, but the pointing input was significantly faster for correcting mistakes. Yet, most of the participants preferred tabbing over pointing.