Human Factors and Fitts Law

Ken Goldberg, IEOR and EECS, UC Berkeley

What is Ergonomics?
Prof. Wojciech Jastrzebowski
in Poland in 1857:
From two Greek words
Ergon meaning work
and
Nomos meaning principles or laws
Ergonomics = The Science of Work

What is Ergonomics?
Common Definitions
Ergonomics is essentially fitting the workplace to
the worker. The better the fit the higher the level
of safety and worker efficiency. Fitting the Task to
the Human ~ Grandjean 1990

Ergonomics removes barriers to quality,

productivity and human performance by fitting
products, tasks, and environments to people.
ErgoWeb.com

Human Factors
What Is Human Factors?
The following definition was adopted by the
International Ergonomics Association in August
2000:
Ergonomics (or human factors) is the scientific
discipline concerned with the understanding of
interactions among humans and other elements of a
system, and the profession that applies theory,
principles, data, and other methods to design in
order to optimize human well-being and overall
system performance.

Human Factors and Ergonomics

Britain - The Ergonomic Society was formed in
1952 with people from psychology, biology,
physiology, and design.
United States - The Human Factors Society
was formed in 1957. In the US "human factors
engineering" was emphasized by the US military
with concentration on human engineering and
engineering psychology.

from Mike Mandel, Making Good Time (CMP Bulletin vol. 8 no. 2,
California Museum of Photography, UC California, Riverside, 1989)

Gilbreth Video

Hawthorne Effect
Worker Study (1927 - 1932) of the Hawthorne Plant
of the Western Electric Company in Cicero, Illinois.
Led by Harvard Business School professor Elton
Mayo: Effect of varying light levels on Productivity.

Measure of Man, Henry Dreyfuss, 1960

Occupational Safety and Health Administration,

(OSHA, 1970, www.osha.gov)

Neutral Posture for Computer

Use
Position the monitor about an
arms length away directly in
front of you. The top of the
screen no higher than eye
level (Unless the user wears
bi-focal glasses)
Use a document
holder close to the
monitor rather than
laying papers flat
Mouse should be next to keyboard
both at a height equivalent to the
users seated elbow height

Knees comfortably bent with

feet resting on the floor. If the
chair is raised so the keyboard
height equals elbow height, use
a footrest .

Adjust the seat height

so upper arms hang
vertically, elbows bent
about 90 degrees,
shoulders relaxed and
wrists fairly straight

Adjust
the back
rest to
provide
firm
support
to the
small of
the back

Paul M. Fitts, 1954

Fitts connected the speed-accuracy
tradeoff of choice reaction times to
reaching movement tasks

Fitts Law
A

T = a + b log2( A )
W
ID

Parameters a, b experimentally determined

Alternative: Square-root Law

Fitts Logarithmic Law is not derived using
biomechanics and kinematics
We derive a Square-root Law:

based on 2 simple assumptions

Assumption 1
Acceleration ( x ) is piecewise constant

Assumption 2
Acceleration is proportional to target width
Wider targets are easier to reach
larger accelerations possible

Optimal Control
Given a bound on | x | ,
Fastest way to reach a target is to use
bang-bang control

T/2

Optimal Bang-Bang Control Velocity

s = T/2

Position at time T:

Optimal Bang-Bang Control Position

A
A
2

s = T/2

Optimal Binary Acceleration Model

Use Assumption 2 to specify a single
formula that relates A, W, and T
Assumption 2 Hypothesis:
Maximal acceleration set by the human is
proportional to target width
(Wider targets permit larger accelerations)

Optimal Binary Acceleration Model

Assume:
Optimal bang-bang model:

Add reaction time a:

Parameters a,b set from experimental data

First Mouse (Douglas Engelbart and

William English, 1964)

First Mouse Patent (Engelbart)

(Shumin Zhai, IBM Almaden Research Center)

Modern Input Devices

Fitts Law Java Applet

Experimental Tests
Homogeneous
Cursor Motions
Fixed
Rectangle Test

Heterogeneous
Cursor Motions
Variable
Rectangle Test

Circle Test

Available Data
Original data set:

2232 users for fixed rectangle tests

2466 users for variable rectangle tests
1897 users for circle test
User did not complete all trials Removed
User has outlier points Removed

Final data set:

1640 users for fixed rectangle tests
1996 users for variable rectangle tests
1561 users for circle tests

Model Parameters
Parameter set using least-squares linear
regression for each user
Average parameters over all users:

Typical User

Models
with
Lowest
RMS Error

Effect Size
Square-root
Law better

Logarithmic
Law better

Mean signed difference in RMS errors between

the Square-root Law and Fitts Logarithmic Law,
as a percent of the mean RMS error for Fitts
Logarithmic Law, with 95% confidence intervals

Web-Based Fitts Law Demo

www.tele-actor.net/fitts/

Human Factors and Ergonomics

Britain - The Ergonomic Society was
formed in 1952
United States - The Human Factors
Society was formed in 1957.

Human Factors and Fitts Law

Ken Goldberg, IEOR and EECS, UC Berkeley

Cupstacking Video

Outline
Fitts Law Introduction
Kinematics Models of Fitts Task
Symmetric Binary Acceleration Model
Asymmetric Binary Acceleration Model

Fitts Task in HCI

Web-based Experiments

Choice Reaction Time Task

Stimulus: 1,,N

Response: 1,,N

J. Merkel, 1885: Stimuli 1,,N equally likely.

TR = a + b log2 N

Information Theory
Base 2 logarithm of the number of
alternatives is a measure of information
Number of bits = log2 N
Corresponds to the average number of yes/no
questions required to identify correct stimulus

In example:
log2 8 = 3 bits

Fitts Information Theory Approach

Define information encoded in a reaching
moving task
Information transmitted I in a response is
a measure of the reduction in uncertainty

Information Transmitted

000

001

010

011

100

101

110

111

# possibilities before event: 8

# possibilities after event: 2
Information transmitted: -log2(2/8) = 2 bits
Uncertainty: 1 bit

Discrete vs. Continuous Choice

1

000

001

010

011

100

101

110

111

Target
Start
Position

Amplitude A Width W

Fitts Formulation
Number of possibilities after response: W
Number of possibilities before response: 2A
Information transmitted = Index of Difficulty

Weber Fraction Formulation of Fitts

Task
Welford, 1968
Weber fraction: W/(A+0.5W)
Target
Start
Position

Amplitude A Width W

Shannon Formulation of Fitts Task

Formulation based on Shannons
Theorem
[I. Scott MacKenzie 1992]

C = Information capacity of
communication channel
B = channel bandwidth
S = signal strength
N = noise power

Shannon Formulation for Fitts Task:

Outline
Fitts Law Introduction
Kinematics Models of Fitts Task
Symmetric Binary Acceleration Model
Asymmetric Binary Acceleration Model

Fitts Task in HCI

Web-based Experiments

Outline
Fitts Law Introduction
Kinematics Models of Fitts Task
Symmetric Binary Acceleration Model
Asymmetric Binary Acceleration Model

Fitts Task in HCI

Web-based Experiments

Velocity Profiles of Fitts Task

[ ]

1.
2.
3.

C.L. MacKenzie et al,

1987

Velocity profiles are asymmetric

Asymmetry increases as target width decreases
Amplitude has relatively little effect on asymmetry

Asymmetric Binary Acceleration Model

Assume:
Percent time accelerating increases with W

Asymmetric velocity profile:

Acceleration is constant a
Deceleration set so distance
A reached at time T

Asymmetric Velocity Profile

Asymmetric Model Position

Asymmetric Binary Acceleration Model

Add reaction time a:

Parameters a,b set from experimental data

Same formula as Optimal Binary
Acceleration Model;
Different assumptions and derivations

Velocity v

Optimal Binary Acceleration Model

Movement Time T

Asymmetric Binary Acceleration Model

Velocity v

Movement Time T

Outline
Fitts Law Introduction
Kinematics Models of Fitts Task
Symmetric Binary Acceleration Model
Asymmetric Binary Acceleration Model

Fitts Task in HCI

Web-based Experiments

Mouse
First mouse (1964):
Douglas Engelbart and William English