Can’t Touch This: New Interface Challenges
“Either work hard or you might as well quit. That’s word because you know…You can’t touch this.” — MC Hammer
Written by Tim Buesing
Argh…it’s Hammertime! Once again I’m stuck on an eCommerce website that apparently hasn’t considered I might want to purchase from a tablet. My fingertips seem well within what web experts define as average (approximately 44 pixels). Yet here I am, grappling with a nasty popup window that I just cannot touch. It would work well if only I used a mouse. On my iPad it feels like the shop owner is pressing the door shut as I’m trying to enter his store. Grmpfh…
After switching to the mobile site, my big fat fingers work much better, but now my previously loaded shopping cart is empty. Shall I give up, return to my laptop, search, and select the items again? And would it recognise me if I returned, neatly perched on my couch, using Xbox or a smart TV where my spoken commands mix with gestures and a wand-like remote control?
These situations pose very real questions for brands, publishers, and start-ups. We users have grown to expect optimised experiences from them on every one of our devices. Touch, voice, and gesture have matured and added variety to how we access services, purchase goods, entertain ourselves, and share stories. And eCommerce is especially ripe with users hopping between devices. Etsy, for example, sees a desktop/mobile split of 75/25 in terms of traffic but 80/20 for purchases, meaning one out of every five mobile window-shoppers switches over to a PC to complete the transaction.
“Responsive Design — creating websites that respond to a variety of screen sizes and thus avoid the need for separate sites — is only part of the solution.”
Microsoft’s new Surface computer has made this duality apparent. On a single device, users can type and click as well as touch and swipe. While many professional reviewers have called the Surface experience confusing, tests indicate users prefer its touch interface. They even neglect cursor and keyboard for tasks where they are generally considered superior, such as filling out longer forms. Instead, they grab the Surface’s screen as if it was a tablet only. Additionally, most websites or applications can’t tell which ”interaction mode” the user is in at any given moment. That’s why user interface experts like Josh Clark advise, ”If a device can be used for touch, its interface should be finger-friendly.” From a creative standpoint, this sounds like a lot of BFBs (Big F!#&ing Buttons), a somewhat chunky layout of the future web.
Responsive Design — creating websites that respond to a variety of screen sizes and thus avoid the need for separate sites — is only part of the solution. What responsive sites can’t quite address are users’ motivations, behavioral patterns, and ergonomics specific to using mice, fingers, arms, and voices. Touch interfaces, for instance, work better with navigations placed at the bottom. But can we expect people to learn different interfaces with every device? And can we expect budgets to cover every optimisation?
That’s why it’s best to stay on track with your audience and analyse which devices are significant in terms of current and future share. Project and estimate what your audience will move towards, budget accordingly, and be open with users on less common devices. After all, you’re working hard so they can touch this. And that’s very word.
