The Formatting of Alphanumeric Displays: A Review and Analysis

This paper surveys the literature on alphanumeric display formatting, focusing primarily on computer-generated displays. Two general areas are included: guidelines addressing display design and empirical studies of displays. Four characteristics of display formats are described: overall density, local density, grouping, and layout complexity. Objective measurement techniques for these characteristics are proposed and are applied to two different display formats. The results suggest that these measures could provide the basis for objectively evaluating a display without collecting performance data.