Authors: Shengdong Zhao, Ravin Balakrishnan

1. Simple vs. Compound Mark
Hierarchical Marking Menus
Shengdong Zhao, Ravin Balakrishnan

2. 2
Compound Mark Technique

3. 3
Compound Mark Technique

4. 4
Compound Mark Technique

5. 5
Compound Mark Technique

6. 6
Compound Mark Technique

7. 7
Compound Mark Technique

8. 8
Advantages
Seamless novice to expert transition

9. 9
Advantages
Seamless novice to expert transition
3.5 x faster than linear menus

10. 10
Advantages
Seamless novice to expert transition
3.5 x faster than linear menus
Scale invariance
=

11. 11
Limitations – Error Rate
Breadth/depth/speed/accuracy trade-off
[Kurtenbach and Buxton, 1993]
Compass4

12. 12
Limitations – Error Rate
Breadth/depth/speed/accuracy trade-off
[Kurtenbach and Buxton, 1993]
Compass4 Compass4-4

13. 13
Limitations – Error Rate
Breadth/depth/speed/accuracy trade-off
[Kurtenbach and Buxton, 1993]
Compass8

14. 14
Limitations – Error Rate
Breadth/depth/speed/accuracy trade-off
[Kurtenbach and Buxton, 1993]
Compass8 Compass8-2

15. 15
Limitations – Ambiguous Marks
S-S-N

16. 16
Limitations – Ambiguous Marks
S-S-N = S-N-N

17. 17
Limitations – Ambiguous Marks
S-S-N = S-N-N
compass8-3: 22% ambiguous
compass4-4: 57% ambiguous

18. 18
Limitations – Physical Space
NE-E-NE-E

19. 19
Compound Mark Technique

20. 20
Simple Mark Technique

21. 21
Simple Mark Technique

22. 22
Simple Mark Technique

23. 23
Simple Mark Technique

24. 24
Simple Mark Technique

25. 25
Simple Mark Technique

26. 26
Simple Mark Technique

27. 27
Compound vs. Simple
Compound Mark
Technique
Simple Mark
Technique
Breadth vs. Depth
Compass4:max. depth 4
Compass8:max. depth 2 Possibly more depth
Ambiguity Yes NO
Space usage Grows quadratically Theoretical constant
Physical Motion Single zig-zag stroke Multiple simple
strokes

28. 28
Compound vs. Simple
Compound Mark
Technique
Simple Mark
Technique
Breadth vs. Depth
Compass4:max. depth 4
Compass8:max. depth 2 Possibly more depth
Ambiguity Yes NO
Space usage Grows quadratically Theoretical constant
Physical Motion Single zig-zag stroke Multiple simple
strokes

29. 29
Compound vs. Simple
Compound Mark
Technique
Simple Mark
Technique
Breadth vs. Depth
Compass4:max. depth 4
Compass8:max. depth 2 Possibly more depth
Ambiguity Yes NO
Space usage Grows quadratically Theoretical constant
Physical Motion Single zig-zag stroke Multiple simple
strokes

30. 30
Compound vs. Simple
Compound Mark
Technique
Simple Mark
Technique
Breadth vs. Depth
Compass4:max. depth 4
Compass8:max. depth 2 Possibly more depth
Ambiguity Yes NO
Space usage Grows quadratically Theoretical constant
Physical Motion Single zig-zag stroke Multiple simple
strokes

31. 31
Research Issues
Speed and accuracy
Hierarchy depth
Input footprint
Spatial overlap
Timeout threshold
Mark directions
on-axis off-axis

32. 32
Experimental Setup

33. 33
Input Footprint
1.25’’ x 1.25’’
3.5’’ x 4.25’’
7.8’’ x 8.8’’

34. 34
Experimental Design

35. 35
12 participants x
Experimental Design

36. 36
12 participants x
2 techniques (compound, simple) x
Experimental Design

37. 37
12 participants x
2 techniques (compound, simple) x
3 input footprint (small, medium, large) x
Experimental Design

38. 38
12 participants x
2 techniques (compound, simple) x
3 input footprint (small, medium, large) x
4 layouts (compass4-2, 4-3 , 8-2 , 8-3)
Experimental Design

39. 39
12 participants x
2 techniques (compound, simple) x
3 input footprint (small, medium, large) x
4 layouts (compass4-2, 4-3 , 8-2 , 8-3)
= 9216 menu selections in total.
Experimental Design

40. 40
Accuracy
Overall: Compound (80%) vs. Simple (93%)
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
4,2 4,3 8,2 8,3 4,2 4,3 8,2 8,3 4,2 4,3 8,2 8,3
Menu Layout (Number of items, depth)
Accuracy(%)
compound
simple
Large Medium Small
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Accuracy(%)
4,2 4,3 8,2 8,3 4,2 4,3 8,2 8,3 4,2 4,3 8,2 8,3
Menu Layout (breadth, depth)

41. 41
Accuracy
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
off
on
mix
off
on
mix
off
on
mix
off
on
mix
off
on
mix
off
on
mix
Accuracy(%)
compound
simple
Large Medium Small
Level 2 Level 3 Level 2 Level 3 Level 2 Level 3
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Accuracy(%)
Off
On
Mix
Off
On
Mix
Off
On
Mix
Off
On
Mix
Off
On
Mix
Off
On
Mix
Level 2 Level 3 Level 2 Level 3 Level 2 Level 3
Large Medium Small

42. 42
Speed
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4,2 4,3 8,2 8,3 4,2 4,3 8,2 8,3 4,2 4,3 8,2 8,3
Menu Layout (Number of items, depth)
Time(insecond)
compound
simple
Large Medium Small
4,2 4,3 8,2 8,3 4,2 4,3 8,2 8,3 4,2 4,3 8,2 8,3
Menu Layout (breadth, depth)
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Time(insecond)

43. 43
Speed
0
1
2
3
4
5
off
on
mix
off
on
mix
off
on
mix
off
on
mix
off
on
mix
off
on
mix
TotalTime(insecond)
compound
simple
Large Medium Small
Level 2 Level 3 Level 2 Level 3 Level 2 Level 3
Off
On
Mix
Off
On
Mix
Off
On
Mix
Off
On
Mix
Off
On
Mix
Off
On
Mix
Level 2 Level 3 Level 2 Level 3 Level 2 Level 3
Large Medium Small
Time(insecond)
5
4
3
2
1
0

44. 44
Input Space Usage
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Participant ID
Area(KiloPixels)
compound
simple
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Area(KiloPixels)
Large Medium Small
Comp4 Comp8 Comp4 Comp8 Comp4 Comp8
2 2 2 2 2 23 3 3 3 3 3

45. 45
Results Summary
Faster, more accurate
Increased hierarchy depth
Mark direction no effect on accuracy
Unaffected by input footprint
Space efficient
Timeout threshold: 2s upper bound

46. 46
Menu Transition Alternatives
Furniture
Fruit
ToolAuto
Furniture
Fruit
ToolAuto
Hammer
Nail
ScrewSaw
Furniture
Fruit
ToolAuto
Hammer
Nail
ScrewSaw
Furniture
Fruit
Auto Tool
Nail
ScrewSaw
HammerFurniture
Fruit
Auto Tool
Furniture
Fruit
ToolAuto
Nail
ScrewSaw
Hammer

47. 47
Backtracking Alternatives
Sun
Thurs
Tues
Mon
Wes
Sat
Fri
Season
Month
Date Day
Furniture
Fruit
Auto
Hammer
Nail
ScrewSawTool

48. 48
Future Directions
Novice to expert transition
Mode errors

49. 49
Acknowledgements
Mark Chignell, Michael McGuffin,
Jingnan Yang, Xiao Wu, Faye Baron, Rick
Bodner
Experiment participants
Members of DGP and MIE lab
UIST Reviewers

50. 50
Questions

51. 51
Formula for Calculating Ambiguity
Let B be the branching factor of the menu (e.g., 4, 8)
Let D be the depth of the menu (i.e., number of levels)
Then, the total number of leaf nodes = B^D
Number of leaf nodes with unambiguous marks =
(number of marks with maximal number D-1 inflections) +
(number of marks with no inflections at all) =
B*(B-1)^(D-1) + B
Example calculations:
compass8-2 layout = 8*(7^1) + 8 = 64 (i.e., all leaves)
compass4-4 layout = 4*(3^3) + 4 = 112 (43% of all
leaves)
compass8-3 layout = 8*(7^2) + 8 = 400 (78% of all
leaves)

52. 52
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4,2 4,3 8,2 8,3 4,2 4,3 8,2 8,3 4,2 4,3 8,2 8,3
Menu Layout (Number of items, depth)
Time(insecond)
compound
simple
Large Medium Small
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4,2 4,3 8,2 8,3 4,2 4,3 8,2 8,3 4,2 4,3 8,2 8,3
Menu Layout (Number of items, depth)Time(insecond)
compound
simple
Large Medium Small
Drawing TimeReaction Time

53. 53
0
1
2
3
4
5
off
on
mix
off
on
mix
off
on
mix
off
on
mix
off
on
mix
off
on
mix
ReactionTime(insecond)
compound
simple
Large Medium Small
Level 2 Level 3 Level 2 Level 3 Level 2 Level 3
0
1
2
3
4
5
off
on
mix
off
on
mix
off
on
mix
off
on
mix
off
on
mix
off
on
mix
DrawingTime(insecond)
compound
simple
Large Medium Small
Level 2 Level 3 Level 2 Level 3 Level 2 Level 3
Drawing TimeReaction Time

54. 54
Experimental Setup