Effect of the Notch a Cursor Cannot Enter for Pointing Movement Time

Abstract

Although the mouse cursor can enter the notch area at the top of the MacBook Pro (2021) display, it is partially or entirely hidden by the notch. Avoiding the notch or moving the cursor carefully around the notch can increase the movement time. In this study, we conducted a series of experiments to evaluate the effect of the notch on the movement of the mouse cursor. Experiment 1 showed that the notch increased the pointing movement time in specific situations. Experiment 2 showed that it is better to avoid the notch than enter the notch in the current specification of the notch. Experiment 3 showed that changing the notch to an area where the cursor cannot enter is an effective way of pointing at the target more rapidly and accurately, if the target is adjacent to the notch. Consequently, the outer edge of the notch stops the cursor, resulting in faster and more accurate target-pointing. Therefore, the notch should be an area where the cursor cannot enter.