Evaluating smartphone-based user interface designs for a 2D psychological questionnaire

This study explored various user interface designs to transition a two dimensional (2D) questionnaire from its paper-and-pencil testing format to the mobile platform. The current administration of the test limits its usage beyond the lab environment. Creating a mobile version would facilitate ubiquitous administration of the test. Yet, the mobile design must be at least as good as its paper-based counterpart in terms of input accuracy and user interaction efforts. We developed four user interface designs, each of which featured a specific interaction approach. These approaches included displaying the 2D space of the questionnaire in its original form (M1), inputting one variable at a time on the 2D space (M2), dissolving the 2D space into two one-dimensional ordinal scales (M3), and orienting the input selections to the diagonal axes (M4). The designs were tested by a total of 34 participants, aged 18 to 52 years. The study results find the first three interaction approaches (M1-M3) effective but the fourth approach inefficient. Furthermore, the results indicate that the two-tap designs (M2 and M3) are equally as good as the one-tap design (M1).