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We describe a new type of graphical user interface widget, known as a "tracking menu." A tracking menu consists of a cluster of graphical buttons, and as with traditional menus, the cursor can be moved within the menu to select and interact with items. However, unlike traditional menus, when the cursor hits the edge of the menu, the menu moves to continue tracking the cursor. Thus, the menu always stays under the cursor and close at hand.In this paper we define the behavior of tracking menus, show unique affordances of the widget, present a variety of examples, and discuss design characteristics. We examine one tracking menu design in detail, reporting on usability studies and our experience integrating the technique into a commercial application for the Tablet PC. While user interface issues on the Tablet PC, such as preventing round trips to tool palettes with the pen, inspired tracking menus, the design also works well with a standard mouse and keyboard configuration.

As a Web Designer/Developer, you’re constantly dealing with an amazingly unpredictable element: the user. Users (surfers, customers, etc.) rely on your help and judgment to guide them through your site, frequently taking turns you can’t anticipate. This chapter looks at the ways in which many sites have approached the Herculean task of helping users find what they’re seeking — often, unfortunately, losing their way themselves.

Users of compact smart products with small screens often have trouble learning the menu structure. If they cannot master the menu structure, users are not able to fully utilize the products. It is argued in this paper that using visual momentum in menu representation design helps users develop effective mental maps of menu structures and promotes learning of the user interface. To assess the effect of visual momentum in this study, four types of menu representations were developed. Additionally, two menu hierarchies, two types of function key layout, and two types of function key labeling were assessed to examine the effects of menu dimension and compatibility. Experimental results indicated that participants using a partial menu map with visual momentum design performed the best, and participants using a partial menu map without visual momentum performed the poorest, even worse than those-using command-only representation. The results also showed that the menu navigation problem appeared to be particularly significant with a deep menu hierarchy. Actual or potential applications of this research include menu representation design for compact smart products.

A software package MenuCAD has been developed for the general need of designing menu-driven, user-friendly CAD computer programs. The main menu is formatted similar to the major contents in the final report of the design project including Contents, Analysis, Sample Design Cases, Illustrations and Tables, References, and Program Listings. Sub-menus are further divided into items delineating the steps involved in the design. Screen help messages are provided for design of the main menu and sub-menus interactively and for applying the arrow keys on the keyboard to select a sub-menus and a particular item in the sub-menu in order to execute a desired design step. MenuCAD builds the framework, its user has to supplement with a subroutine ExecItem for describing the special features and for directing how each design step should be executed in the project. A CAD design of four-bar linkage project is presented as a sample application of this package.

In program visualization some form of graphics is used to represent some aspect of a program. However, graphics are necessarily expensive with respect to “screen real estate”. Alternatives, therefore, may be required for presentation of certain concepts fundamental to the programmer's model of a program. For example, one graphical representation of a program, written in a block-structured language like Pascal or Modula-2, is the structure chart model of the hierarchical structure of the blocks or modules making up the program. This graphic may be the most appropriate but it may not be conveniently implemented as a menu and a means of “directly” selecting blocks of program code to view or edit. Such graphics are used extensively, for example, in the Garden environment developed at Brown University. An alternative is a text-based list of block names indented to summarize the program's structure. UQ1, a language-based editor developed at the University of Queensland, implements the concept in this manner. Both types of menu structure were examined and compared for efficiency in a direct manipulation style of interaction. In general, there was no significant difference ( P > 0.05) in time taken by subjects to select items from either style of menu.

The menu plays an important role in patient satisfaction while impacting the nutritional value of meals provided to patients in a hospital setting. The present study was conducted to determine the impact of a new menu design on the frequency of food item selection by inpatients. A directed-choice menu design was implemented; this design offers a featured meal (entree, starch, and vegetable) of the day appearing at the top of the menu, with alternative choices in each category at the bottom of the menu. Pre and post-implementation data was used to evaluate whether the design of the menu acts to guide patients to select the featured meal. Data on the frequency of selections before the menu was redesigned was compared to similar data collected after the new menu was implemented. Results showed a significant increase in patient selections of the featured lunch and dinner entrees (44% and 54% respectively; p

The optimal number of menu items per display screen has been the topic of considerable debate and study. On the one hand, some designers have packed many items into each menu to conserve space and reduce the number of menus, whereas on the other hand there are designers who prefer a sparse display for menu structures and other videotex information. This study evaluated the effects of a broad/shallow menu compared to a narrow/deep menu structure under two conditions of time stress for inexperienced users. Results indicated that time stress both slowed performance, and increased errors. In addition, it was demonstrated that the broad/shallow menu was faster and resulted in fewer errors. Implications for menu design are discussed.

An on-line, real-time menu management system was developed as a module of the integrated computer-assisted food management system implemented at the University of Missouri-Columbia Health Sciences Center Department of Nutrition and Dietetics. This system supplants a former automated form generating system and permits flexibility in menu design. The major data base in the system is the Master Menu File, which is updated using real-time processing. This file contains data about each occurrence of menu items and is interfaced with existing recipe files to produce numerous printed documents and to display the menu on a video display terminal. The major benefits of the system are flexibility and elimination of typing of worksheets. Entering a new menu or changes to the menu require only a brief amount of time; new revised documents relative to the menu can be generated on the same day. Some of the types of documents available from this system are: master menu, nutrient syllabi, menu audit, and food production forms. The menu is available on-line at all times for reference by dietitians and supervisors. The Master Menu File will be utilized more fully as new modules are designed to interface with the Menu Management System. Production forecasting, patient menu printing, and individualized diet planning are three potential enhancements to the system which will utilize data in the Master Menu File. The file was designed to accommodate additional data as the system in further matured.

Menus are choice structures. This article explores the pros and cons of various menu layouts. Its findings are applicable to the whole range of computer-assisted learning media from the micro through to touch screen interactive video.

The present study investigated the interrelationship between specific user characteristics and hierarchical menu structures. Four menu structures were used, which varied in breadth from 2 to 64 and depth from one to six (26, 43, 82, 641) Previous research, investigating both speed and accuracy across different menu structures, has shown that deep menus tend to have slow search times and the greatest number of errors (Miller, 1981; Snowberry, Parkinson, & Sisson, 1983). However, the research to date has failed to investigate, in any detailed way, the relationship between specific user characteristics and performance across different menu structures. In the present study, the relationship between digit span, visual scanning, state anxiety and performance across the four menu structures was investigated. The findings supported previous research, in that fewer errors were made and search times were fastest for the broadest menus. In addition, it was found that individuals with low short-term memory capacity and those with high-state anxiety required more practice to reduce errors on deep menu structures. It is suggested that adequate consideration of user characteristics in the design of menu displays, through the implementation of help functions or on-line learning, may greatly improve user performance on menu driven tasks.

An adaptive usage-sensitive menu-structuring method is proposed to minimize the average search time within a hierarchical menu system. Menu usage statistics are collected, and the Huffman coding algorithm is used to move the frequency selected menu items to the more quickly accessible menu locations. With Huffman coding, the depth of the menu tree is adjusted for a specified breadth so that the average search time is minimized. >