Buttons vs. menus: An exploratory study of pull-down menu selection as compared to button bars

Button bars are a relatively new interaction method intended to speedup application use as compared to pull-down menus. This exploratory study
compares three command selection methods: pull-down menus, button bars,
and user choice of pull-down menus or button bars. Effectiveness was
measured in two ways: speed of selection and error rate. 15 participants
performed 15 word processor related tasks. Results show that in
frequently used functions, such as character attribute selection (bold,
italic, u nderline, etc.), button bars are faster. There were no
statistically significant differences in error rates between the three
interaction methods.
(Also cross-referenced as CAR-TR-764)