Session Presented at 1st IndicThreads.com Conference On Mobile Application Development held on 19-20 November 2010 in Pune, India WEB: http://M10.IndicThreads.com ------------ Speaker: Navin Kabra Abstract: With the advent of the iPhone and Android, more and more mobile with touch screens are hitting the market. In spite of superficial similarities, designing an app for a touch based interface is very different from designing an app for a keypad/keyboard/stylus/mouse based interface. Just porting an older app to the touch with minimal design changes is a recipe for disaster. This talk will cover: 1. Why touch is so important? 2. Which old techniques don’t work well ? 3. Which new techniques can be used ? 4. Common mistakes to watch out for

1. 1
Understanding
the Touch
Interface
Navin Kabra
Tap 'n Tap / PuneTech

2. 2
Navin Kabra
 Background:
 Computer Science
 B.Tech, IIT-Bombay
 Ph.D, Univ of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
 Currently
 Consultant at Tap 'n Tap (Android Tablet Platform)
 Also founder of PuneTech.com, BharatHealth.com
 Links:
 http://punetech.com
 http://punetech.com/navin
 http://tapntap.com
 Twitter: @_navin, @punetech
 Email: navin@punetech.com

3. 3
For more than a decade, when we ask users forFor more than a decade, when we ask users for
their first impression of (desktop) websites,their first impression of (desktop) websites,
the most frequently-used word has beenthe most frequently-used word has been
""busy.busy." In contrast, the first impression of many" In contrast, the first impression of many
iPad apps is "iPad apps is "beautifulbeautiful."."
- Jakob Nielsen- Jakob Nielsen
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/ipad.htmlhttp://www.useit.com/alertbox/ipad.html

4. 4
This talk will try to show that...
 iPad is “beautiful” because of “Touch”
 We'll dig into:
 How “Touch” enables this
 How “Touch” forces this
 Specifics of how you can also do the same
 How NOT to end up with “unusable” instead
of “beautiful”

5. 5
Outline
 Why is Touch Important
 The Advantages of Touch
 The Pitfalls of Touch
 What you should do...

6. 6
Why Touch is Important
 Touch will take over the world
 Dominant interface for the next billion
consumers
 Casual users
 Special purpose devices/apps
 Not just for mobile app designers
 Everyone who's producing content
 e.g. Websites, games, entertainment

7. 7
The Advantages of Touch
 More Intuitive Interface
 Adaptive Interface - Changes With
Context
 Faster
 Especially for untrained/casual users
 More compact devices
 No keyboard/mouse/wires
 Better for casual users
 And there will be lots and lots of those!

8. 8
Touch Is More Intuitive #1
 Natural Interface
 Direct Manipulation
 Content is the interface

Interaction & output in the same place
 Realistic look-n-feel
 Pinch-zoom for photos vs. click to zoom
 Modeless
 No Shift / Control / Alt

9. 9
Touch Is More Intuitive #2
 Simpler Navigation
 “Forced” by “Disadvantages of Touch”
 Covered in later slides
 Net result:
 Less cognitive overload
 Progressive disclosure better for users

10. 10
Adaptive Interfaces
 Touch interface changes with context
 Number/size/location of buttons change
with context
 Not possible with keyboards and other
hardware input devices
 Possible but largely unused in mouse
based GUIs

11. 11
Adaptive interface example #1
 Different “soft” keyboards in different
contexts
 URL Input Keyboard
 No space bar
 “.com” key
 “Go” key instead of “Enter”
 Email Input Keyboard
 '@' and '_' keys more prominent

12. 12
Adaptive Interface example #2
ThickButtons Keyboard

13. 13
New modes of interaction possible
 Advanced Gestures
 Pressure
 etc
 etc
 etc
 Lots of innovation possible

14. 14
Innovation Example: Swype

15. 15
The Pitfalls of Touch
“Everything is best for something and worst for
something else.”
- Bill Buxton
“God is in the details.”
- Anonymous
Devil

16. 16
Laundry list of “Touch” shortcomings

17. 17
Fat Fingers
Problem: Fingers are fatter than mouse cursor.Problem: Fingers are fatter than mouse cursor.
(especially for fat people!)(especially for fat people!)
Solution: Make size of buttons & other clickableSolution: Make size of buttons & other clickable
areas must be large enoughareas must be large enough
Photo by brokenarts via everystockphoto.com

18. 18
Fat Fingers – Implication
Problem: Effective screen size reduced
Solution: Must prioritize buttons (i.e. actions)

19. 19
No mouse pointer
Problem: No “Select.”
No “Select-Delete”
No “Select-Copy-Paste”
Solution: Identify relevant use-cases and come up
with workarounds

20. 20
No Select-Delete - Example
http://punetech.com
How do I go to
http://google.com?

21. 21
No Select-Delete - Solution
http://punetech.com
Delete-all

22. 22
No Select-Copy-Paste - Example
Cc:
How to move this
to “Cc:”?
To: navin@punetech.com, amit@punetech.com

23. 23
No precision
Problem: Finger taps not as precise as mouse
cursor positioning

24. 24
No Precision - Example
http://punetecch.com
How to select
and delete this
extra 'c'?

25. 25
No Hover
Problem: No tooltips
No change in cursor shape
Solution: Button labels must be clearer.
“Affordances” must be clearer.

26. 26
My resume is online.
My resume is online.
My resume is online.
My is online.
Affordance Example
resume
Which of these
Is clickable?

27. 27
No Keyboard
Problem: Most of the time, there's no keyboard
No keyboard shortcuts
No Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V
No Ctrl-A
No <TAB>
Solution: Identify relevant use-cases and come up
workarounds

28. 28
Cc:
No <TAB> Example
To: navin@punetech.com
How to go to
the CC field?

29. 29
Cc:
No <TAB> Example Solution
To: navin@punetech.com
NEXT
The “Next”
Button

30. 30
Standard “Touch” Gestures
Problem: People expect gestures to work. (e.g.
swipe, fling.)
Solution: Must implement standard gestures

31. 31
No “Right-Click”
Problem: No “right-click-mouse” context menu
(Non-)Solution: Long-press. (Painful to use.)
Solution: Re-think app to not need context-menu

32. 32
Performance
Problem: People expect/need touch interfaces to
be much more responsive
Solution: Must allocate time for performance
measurements and tuning

33. 33
Low Discoverability
Problem: Users might never discover some
features/capabilities/gestures
Contrast with: Mouse+menu GUI – Users can
systematically explore all menu options
Solution: Design for gradual discoverability

34. 34
Performance Thresholds
 0.1 sec response time: “Seamless”
 User doesn't even notice your UI
 “Natural”
 1 sec response time: “Decent”
 User notices interface lags
 But “flow” is not interrupted
 1-10 sec response time: “Laggy”
 Irritating
 >10 sec response time: “Lose Users”
 User will switch to another task

35. 35
Don't Overdo
 Avoid Wacky “Innovative” interfaces
 Low discoverability
 Confuses users
 e.g. Tapping a picture does what?
 Enlarges it?
 Opens Album?
 Pops up navigation options?
 Flips the picture?
 Opens hyperlink?
 Does nothing...

36. 36
Other problems
 Finger covers screen
 No tactile feedback - Must look at screen
 Often requires both hands
 Accidental Activation
 Lack of consistency across apps

37. 37
What should you do?

38. 38
All developers must use a touch based device as
their primary device for at least 1 week!
Understand Touch

39. 39
Eat your own dogfood
Must use your own app to understand its
shortcomings

40. 40
Not just mobile apps
 Everybody is affected
 Website designers
 Game designers
 Any content publishers in any format

41. 41
“In the touch screen environment non-intuitive
information architecture will be even more
frustrating to your users”
Source: http://www.foilball.com/best-practices-of-good-touch-screen-interface-design