ISO/TS 9241-411:2012

TECHNICAL ISO/TS
SPECIFICATION 9241-411
First edition
2012-05-01
Ergonomics of human-system
interaction —
Part 411:
Evaluation methods for the design of
physical input devices
Ergonomie de l'interaction homme-système —
Partie 411: Méthodes d'évaluation de la conception des dispositifs
d'entrée physiques
Reference number
©
ISO 2012
©  ISO 2012
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ii © ISO 2012 – All rights reserved

Contents Page
Foreword . v
Introduction . viii
1  Scope . 1
2  Normative references . 1
3  Terms and definitions . 2
4  Guiding principles . 7
5  Evaluation methods . 7
5.1  Physical input devices in general . 7
5.2  Keyboards . 10
5.3  Mice . 22
5.4  Pucks . 25
5.5  Joysticks . 28
5.6  Trackballs . 31
5.7  Touchpads . 34
5.8  Tablets and overlays . 37
5.9  Styli and light-pens . 40
5.10  Touch-sensitive screens. 42
6  Conformance . 42
Annex A (informative) Overview of the ISO 9241 series . 43
Annex B (informative) Testing of efficiency and effectiveness . 44
Annex C (informative) Assessment of comfort . 51
Annex D (informative) Usability test for keyboards . 56
Bibliography . 62
Figures
Figure 1 — Side view of example joystick . 3
Figure 2 — Example of light-pen against display . 4
Figure 3 — Top view of example of tablet with graphic overlay . 4
Figure 4 — Top view examples of two types of puck . 5
Figure 5 — Side view of example of stylus over graphics tablet . 5
Figure 6 — Example of top view of trackball device with buttons . 6
Figure 7 — Illustration of flat, concave and convex keytops . 14
Figure 8 — Measurement of keytop width and depth . 14
Figure 9 — Measurement of key displacement . 14
Figure 10 — Relationship between key displacement and key force (ISO 9241-410:2008, Figure B.3) . 15
Figure 11 — Measurement of character height . 15
Figure 12 — Measurement of vertical and horizontal distance between two adjacent keys . 17
Figure 13 — Measurement of slope of keyboard . 18
Figure 14 — Numeric keypad layout . 18
Figure B.1 — Relationship of index of difficulty to time . 47
Figure B.2 — One-direction tapping task . 48
Figure B.3 — Multi-directional pointing task . 49
Figure B.4 — Tracing task . 50

Tables
Table 1 — Measuring methods on physical input devices in general . 7
Table 2 — Requirements on the generic operability of keyboards . 10
Table 3 — Requirements for functional properties of full-size keyboards . 10
Table 4 — Requirements for sections and zones of full-size keyboards . 16
Table 5 — Requirements for the mechanical design of full-size keyboards . 17
Table 6 — Requirements for maintainability of full-size keyboards . 18
Table 7 — Requirements for documentation of full-size keyboards . 19
Table 8 — Requirements for design of keys of compact keyboards . 19
Table 9 — Requirements for sections and zones of compact keyboards . 20
Table 10 — Requirements for mechanical design of compact keyboards . 20
Table 11 — Requirements for maintainability of compact keyboards . 21
Table 12 — Requirements for documentation of compact keyboards . 22
Table 13 — Mouse design requirements . 22
Table 14 — Design requirements for pucks . 25
Table 15 — Design requirements for joysticks . 28
Table 16 — Design requirements for trackballs . 31
Table 17 — Design requirements for touchpads . 34
Table 18 — Design requirements for tablets and overlays . 37
Table 19 — Design requirements for styli and light-pens . 40
Table 20 — Design requirements for touch-sensitive screens . 42
Table A.1 — Structure of ISO 9241 — Ergonomics of human–system interaction . 43
Table B.1 — Task and condition variations . 45
Table C.1 — Independent rating scale . 52
Table C.2 — Dependent rating scale . 53
Table C.3 — Borg scale . 54
Table C.4 — Borg scale for arm, shoulder, and neck effort . 54
Table D.1 — Reflectance of surfaces . 58
Table D.2 — Independent rating scale . 60
Table D.3 — Example of material for data entry (English language) . 61

iv © ISO 2012 – All rights reserved

Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies
(ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO
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In other circumstances, particularly when there is an urgent market requirement for such documents, a
technical committee may decide to publish other types of document:
 an ISO Publicly Available Specification (ISO/PAS) represents an agreement between technical experts in
an ISO working group and is accepted for publication if it is approved by more than 50 % of the members
of the parent committee casting a vote;
 an ISO Technical Specification (ISO/TS) represents an agreement between the members of a technical
committee and is accepted for publication if it is approved by 2/3 of the members of the committee casting
a vote.
An ISO/PAS or ISO/TS is reviewed after three years in order to decide whether it will be confirmed for a
further three years, revised to become an International Standard, or withdrawn. If the ISO/PAS or ISO/TS is
confirmed, it is reviewed again after a further three years, at which time it must either be transformed into an
International Standard or be withdrawn.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
ISO/TS 9241-411 was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 159, Ergonomics, Subcommittee SC 4,
Ergonomics of human-system interaction.
This first edition of ISO/TS 9241-411, together with ISO 9241-400, ISO 9241-410 and ISO 9241-420, cancels
and replaces ISO 9241-4 and ISO 9241-9, technically revised as follows:
 terms and definitions from ISO 9241-4 and ISO 9241-9 have been transferred to ISO 9241-400;
 guiding principles, collected in ISO 9241-400, have been incorporated and unified so that they correspond
to the scope of the new ISO 9241 series;
 test methods taken from ISO 9241-4 and ISO 9241-9 have been reviewed and amended and new test
methods introduced and collected in annexes for greater convenience.
ISO/TS 9241 consists of the following parts, under the general title Ergonomic requirements for office work
with visual display terminals (VDTs):
 Part 1: General introduction
 Part 2: Guidance on task requirements
 Part 5: Workstation layout and postural requirements
 Part 6: Guidance on the work environment
 Part 11: Guidance on usability
 Part 12: Presentation of information
 Part 13: User guidance
 Part 14: Menu dialogues
 Part 15: Command dialogues
 Part 16: Direct manipulation dialogue
...