Abstract
This study employed the paradigm of visual search to investigate how participants looked for a target file among distractor files in an icon-based computer interface. The aim of these experiments was to study the effect of file icons and spatial grouping on scanning speed. Results show that both the presence of icons and their grouping had a significant positive effect on the scanning speed. Potential applications of this research include the design of graphics-based interfaces, such as the effective arrangement of icons in an interface.