An empirical study of compatibility on rotary control and horizontal display

Abstract The precise effect of scale side, indicator type and control knob position on stereotype strength, index of reversibility and response time for a horizontal display/rotary control arrangement was studied with a factorial experiment. All the main effects and two-factor interactions were found to be highly significant on response time, while both control position and direction of instruction influenced the stereotype strength. Because of the decline in the counterclockwise-for-left stereotype found from the left- to the right-hand side of the display, the stereotype reversibility decreased across the control positions in the same direction. Other than the clockwise-for-right principle and Warrick's principle, the results were also explained with a clockwise-for-push principle, which gave a particularly good account of the extreme values of stereotype strength and reversibility for control positions located at the right- and left-hand ends of the display. With analysis performed separately for top and bottom controls, on which different conditions of compatibility between clockwise-for-right and Warrick's principle exist, two different significant relationships were established between response time and stereotype strength. A further precise analysis of counterclockwise-for-left and clockwise-for-right stereotypes on response time showed that response time decreases not only with clockwise-for-right stereotype strength but also with counterclockwise-for-left (SCC-L) stereotype strength at bottom positions on which the SCC-L stereotype agrees with Warrick's principle. Finally, based on the consideration of response time, stereotype strength and stereotype reversibility, some practical implications for the design of horizontal linear display and rotary control configuration were established. The results of this study provide recommendations for interface design on control consoles used in a manufacturing environment.

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