To click or not to click: A comparison of two target-selection methods for HCI

Abstract

This paper reports a preliminary investigation of different methods for target selection on a computer screen using a mouse. Specifically, an experiment compared the standard point-and-click method to a mouse-over method, whereby the target was automatically selected after the cursor and target were superpositioned for 200 ms. Results indicated that the mouse-over method resulted in a significant reduction in target-acquisition time across a range of target widths. The implication of these findings to task optimization are then considered.