We cannot discuss human information processing without reference to the concept of compatibility. Compatibility refers to the relationship of stimuli and response to human expectations, and such is a central concept in human factors. A major goal in any design is to make the system compatible with human expectations. Traditionally three types of compatibility have been identified : movement, spatial and conceptual compatibility. Movement compatibility relates to the relationship between the movement of display and controls and the response of the system being displayed or controlled. And spatial compatibility refers to the physical arrangement in space of controls and their associated displays. In this paper, we deal with spatial and movement compatibility as they relate to the relationships between control and display. Also, in order to design the user-friendly control devices, we deal with stereotype reactions in this paper, as another major factor which affects the above compatibilities. User`s expectations regarding movement relationships are often referred to as population stereotypes, with some stereotypes being stronger or weaker than others. When the above compatible relationships and the characteristics of stereotype reaction are not obvious, it is necessary to identify them on the basis of empirical experiments or survey. In order to prevent from operational errors of control devices, the control direction of devices must be designed to the way of user`s stereotype reaction strongly. So, such population stereotypes on control direction and compatibility between actual operational direction and user`s expectation must be considered. In this study, in order to investigate the compatibility relationship between actual operational direction and user`s expectation and characteristics of specific stereotype reaction, we made 121 university students of right-handed and 50 students of left-handed the subject of questionnaire as a type of preference investigation. Also, in this questionnaire, several home appliances are presented as the subject of investigation instead of various control devices.