Usability differential in positions of software keyboard on smartphone

To prevent errors during operate a system and improve the work efficiency, usability evaluation and improvement of user interface (UI) for software system have been studied. In this paper, we evaluate how a position of software keyboard which displayed in the touchscreen affects the usability of the keyboard. In current devices, software keyboard is displayed on bottom of the display. The position of software keyboard may affects usability because of relation between position of key and holding/operating hand. In an experiment, three positions on the touchscreen were tested; bottom of the display, under the input window, and top of the display. As a result, keyboards placed on the top of the display or under the input window had taken lower error rate and higher subjective evaluation than bottom of the display, the de facto standard position.