Chapter 4.3, Problem 101E

Difficulty of a Task The difficulty in “acquiring a target” (such as using your mouse to click on an icon on your computer screen) depends on the distance to the target and the size of the target. According to Fitts’s Law, the index of difficulty (ID) is given by

$\text{ID =}\frac{\log (2A/W)}{\log 2}$

where W is the width of the target and A is the distance to the center of the target. Compare the difficulty of clicking on an icon that is 5 mm wide to clicking on one that is 10 mm wide. In each case, assume that the mouse is 100 mm from the icon.