Snap-and-go: helping users align objects without the modality of traditional snapping

Snapping is a widely used technique that helps users position graphical objects precisely, e.g., to align them with a grid or other graphical objects. Unfortunately, whenever users want to position a dragged object close to such an aligned location, they first need to deactivate snapping. We propose snap-and-go, a snapping technique that overcomes this limitation. By merely stopping dragged objects at aligned positions, rather than "warping" them there, snapand-go helps users align objects, yet still allows placing dragged objects anywhere else. While this approach of inserting additional motor space renders snap-and-go slightly slower than traditional snapping, snap-and-go simplifies the user interface by eliminating the need for a deactivation option and thereby allows introducing snapping to application scenarios where traditional snapping is inapplicable. In our user studies, participants were able to align objects up to 138% (1D) and 231% (2D) faster with snapand-go tha...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2005
• Where: CHI
• Authors: Patrick Baudisch, Edward Cutrell, Ken Hinckley, Adam Eversole
• Keywords: CHI 2005, Human Computer Interaction, Snapping Technique, Traditional Snapping, Users Align Objects