On 05/05/11 13:37, Heiko Tietze wrote:
> On a technological position that's true. You can replace all
> functions by gestures. But I'm not convinced that people do really
> know what kind of gesture is related to a specific task. [...] Does
> anyone knows a scientific analysis on that topic?
Jakob Nielsen did an usability study on gestures when the iPad came out:
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/ipad.html
"Summary
iPad apps are inconsistent and have low feature discoverability, with
frequent user errors due to accidental gestures. An overly strong print
metaphor and weird interaction styles cause further usability problems."
Further down the page:
"iPad UIs suffer under a triple threat that causes significant user
confusion:
* Low discoverability: The UI is mostly hidden within the
etched-glass aesthetic without perceived affordances.
* Low memorability: Gestures are inherently ephemeral and difficult
to learn when they're not employed consistently across apps; wider
reliance on generic commands would help.
* Accidental activation: This occurs when users touch things by
mistake or make a gesture that unexpectedly initiates a feature."
Full report:
http://www.nngroup.com/reports/mobile/ipad
My personal take is that one should only rely on gestures when there is
a very strong physical metaphor and/or as an accelerator for expert
users (similar to keyboard shortcuts on regular desktop systems); in
both cases, they should be consistent across the system so that they can
be easily remembered.
Regards,
Felipe
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