Multi-flick : an evaluation of flick-based scrolling techniques for pen interfaces

Multi-flick, which consists of repeated flick actions, has received media attention as an intuitive and natural document-scrolling technique for stylus based systems. In this paper we put multi-flick to test, by designing several flickbased scrolling techniques. We map out the design space of multi-flick and identify mapping functions that make multiflick a natural and intuitive technique for document navigation. We then compare several multi-flick variations for navigating lists on three different devices - a PDA, a tabletPC, and a large table. Our study shows that compoundmulti-flick (CMF) is the most preferred technique and it is at least as fast, if not faster than the traditional scrollbar. In a follow-up study, we evaluate multi-flick for scrolling text-based documents. Results show that all implementations of multi-flick are as good as the scrollbar for short distances while CMF is the most preferred. We discuss the implications of our findings and present several design guidelines. Copyright 2008 ACM