Hi,
I’m running an experiment on a Microsoft Surface Pro (running Windows 10) and I’m utilizing the touchscreen for the entire experiment. I’ve read numerous posts regarding the unfortunate need to swipe or double-tap to register a tap. Ironically, this works for me for part of the experiment - participants are viewing Instagram-style photos, so swiping between photos is a natural motion for them.
The issue appears in my routines with Slider components. I have numerous scales for participants to complete and having to swipe or double-tap on these scales is really difficult. All of the solutions I’ve seen for the tapping issue have to do with clicking on a stimulus, so I don’t think this will work for the scales.
Does anyone have any suggestions about how to avoid/solve this issue with a slider component? I could potentially attach the keyboard to the device for the scales, but my issue with this is that the experiment won’t rotate in the middle once it’s running and I’d much prefer to run it in portrait mode.
Thank you for the help!
Elisabeth
Dear Eslifkin,
What if you make it so that entering a response on the scale won’t end the the trial. Then add an additional button at the bottom of the screen for a participant to “confirm” their answer. That way they can double-tap or swipe the slider to input a response; they an opportunity to input the response they want. Then they can double-tap the “confirm” button when done.
If you can’t come up with any solutions, and really don’t want to add an external keyboard, a really makeshift solution is to just have the slider trial end via a timer (e.g 10 seconds), in which participants input their response, and it’s saved as the last slider location.
Issac
Hi Isaac,
Unfortunately, the double tap/swipe just isn’t working for us the way we need it to. Adding a timer is a good suggestion that I hadn’t thought of! As of right now, we’re going to put the experiment online on Pavlovia (for other reasons), so I’m hoping this will help, as piloting online fixes the double tap issue. When we do eventually run the experiment in person, we will definitely try the timer!
Elisabeth