Investigation into the Discrepancies Between Writing on Paper and Writing on a Touchscreen Device

Due to the complexity of text in Asian languages and hence the complexity of input methods, demand for stylus-type input is higher in Asian than the Western world, prompting Asian tech brands such as Samsung and Sony to introduce smart devices with in-built stylus to cater to this group of consumers. To account for general usage, this research has opted to employ mobile devices with built-in stylus as test equipment. In addition, in order to account for the difference between various sizes of devices, the researchers have chosen three device dimensions: 5.7 in, 9.7 in, and 12 in, for the tests, and each size of device is compared to an identically sized piece of paper. In consideration of the locality of the behavior of users, the subjects are asked to input using Traditional Chinese text only. Results from the experiment showed, in terms of writing behavior, that almost all subjects put the device flat on a table for writing, and that the habit of spinning the paper to an angle for writing is transferred to writing on a device. The finger positions on a stylus change depending on the properties of the device, especially when writing on the 5.7 in, the smallest device, touching the stylus at the smaller supporting points or completely dangle the pen away from the palm occurs much more often than on the bigger device sizes. In terms of writing performance, writing time on a device is generally longer than that on paper. The words written on a device are bigger and grow in size as the device size increases on the devices, but on the different sizes of paper the words stay relatively the same size. Words written on a device are generally less legible than those written on paper.