The purpose of this study is to compare the ease of use between direct manipulation interface and command-based interface for novice users writing spreadsheet macros. Specifically, the study analyzed the effects of the two user interface methods on user performance (macro accuracy and macro completion time) when performing tasks of writing macros with different levels of difficulty (simple macros and complex macros). To achieve the research objectives, a laboratory experiment was conducted with 54 novice users of macro writing. The independent variables consisted of a between-subjects factor (user interface type, not repeatedly measured) and a within-subjects factor (macro difficulty level, repeatedly measured), while the dependent variables measured were macro writing accuracy and completion time as proxy variables for user performance. The results showed that the direct manipulation interface group and the command-based interface group exhibited significant differences in performance regarding macro accuracy and completion time: the direct manipulation interface group was not only superior to the command-based interface group in macro accuracy but also completed macros in less time. However, no significant interaction was found between user interface type and macro difficulty level.