Design a gesture operation that is easy for the user to discover

"Editor's note" This article is reproduced from the @ zi mu yoyo personal blog. When touch-screen devices, such as smartphones and tablets, become popular, gesture manipulation is becoming more prevalent. This allows the user to directly touch the screen and manipulate the object.

Although this is a more natural mode of human-computer interaction, gesture manipulation is still a problem in usability. So we need to design gestures that make it easier for users to understand.

Once upon a time, computers could only be used through the command-line interface. If you want your computer to do something, you need to remember all the commands and enter them exactly. When the graphical user interface became popular, people no longer needed to memorize commands.

What the user wants to do is displayed on the screen. To get into a software, just double-click the icon and want to copy the file, just right-click and click Copy. "Memory" is gradually replaced by "recognition".

Because these gestures cannot be clearly displayed on the interface, there is no visual element representing the action, it is necessary for the user to remember which gesture corresponds to which operation, some unusual gestures are often difficult to find. If gestures are intuitive to use naturally, and if there is no "natural" gesture to represent an action, the user will be confused, and then need to remember, as in the use of command line interface to keep in mind those commands.

For example, using pages on the ipad, if you want to move an object in a single pixel, you need to touch and hold an object with one finger, and then tap the other finger in the direction you want to move. Few people can find such gestures only by using them. Like Android, it often takes a long time to edit a file and so on, for the first time users, such operations are hard to find.

How to make gestures easy to discover is also an issue that interaction designers need to consider. Here are some examples to sum up some of the ways to make gestures easier to find, to share.

1, in line with the cognitive habits of the mode of operation

Holiday home to Grandpa look at the photos on the ipad, he looked at me after the operation, it will naturally slide around to look, two fingers kneading expand zoom to reduce the picture. Because these modes of operation are most in line with people's cognitive habits, sliding, scaling, drag, click and so on gestures, people in the daily life there are applications, natural easy to learn, even the elderly, as long as you see once such an operation, you can easily use.

People's perception of things in daily life has become a habit, if designers can introduce real-life gestures to the product, so that users can think in the use of life, have seen the same scene, will have the same use, you can extend the same experience to the interface, So this way of operation is naturally easy to find.

such as click on the operation, in life, people will click on the press to start a variety of electrical appliances, see the interface has similar buttons, will naturally go to click. In life, people also change the angle of an object by means of a two-fingered rotation, changing its shape by dragging the corners of the object, changing its position by sliding or dragging. Like photo table in this application, the operation of the picture is entirely rooted in life, users use the same as on a table with the photos, the operation of natural random, no need to learn to use.

Users have become accustomed to using two-fingered kneading to reduce or close the picture, the single point of sliding around the picture, then the use of stronger kneading gestures can be reduced or closed application? Is the use of more powerful sliding gestures to toggle the application around? Yes, the iOS5 gesture operation increases the gesture of the finger kneading back to the main screen and the four-point sliding switch application software. Using more fingers to turn off and switch applications is also in line with the user's psychological expectations.

Zhangxiaolong said such a thing when he talked about the experience of micro-faith:

Nature is often associated with human nature. Micro-letter shaking is a "natural" as the goal of the design. "Grasping" and "shaking" are the instincts that people must have when they have no tools in ancient times. Mobile phones provide the conditions that inspire the ancient instincts of mankind. When designing "shake", the goal is to be consistent with a person's "natural" or "instinctive" action experience. The experience of shaking is: action – shaking; Vision – the screen splits and fits in response; Auditory: attractive (men are rifles, women are bells) to respond to action; Results – a business card that slides from the center of the screen. The entire interface has no menus or buttons. But there is hardly any more simple interaction experience. Thanks to the mobile phone, people in ancient times were "connected" by throwing stones to others, evolving to shaking their phones to "connect" people in a virtual way.

"Shake" is a human instinct action, even the baby in the infant will often carry a small toy shaking to shake, it is no wonder that all kinds of young men and women use up so smoothly.

Can be seen, a human instinct to operate the way, to bring the charm of the product.

2, everywhere Operation tips

Previously said, gesture operation is not easy to find because the interface does not represent the visual elements of the action, then add the corresponding hint in the interface, when people are overwhelmed, tell the user how to operate, can greatly improve the availability of gesture operation.

Recently very like to play the landlord, in the beginning to play often will emerge such a hint: "sliding more than one card", "drag directly out of the card." Prompts the action method when the user starts to use.

Take a look at our daily brush Sina Weibo, NetEase News, will also prompt: "Drop-down can Refresh", "Release can refresh."

IOS5 keyboard input can choose the bottom keyboard, floating keyboard and split the keyboard, carefully observe the keyboard will be found in the lower left corner of the button on a few small bars, this is the place to switch the keyboard. This logo for the overall visual simplicity is not obvious, but want to switch keyboard users will be careful to find a switch entrance, you can find this hint.

Any.do is in the empty state, the gesture operation of the way to write in to do, tell the user how to operate, users know can be deleted.

Metro, by leaving an incomplete message, prompts the user to slide the screen to the left with no full information on the right.

More applications, the flashing arrows will be used to prompt the user, where to slide, where to click.

3, a variety of operating methods coexist

In the application of the introduction of a wide range of gesture operations, one is to facilitate the user can be more efficient operation, the second is to increase the flow in use, so that users more fun to use. It may be useful to introduce a variety of gesture operations, while retaining the most basic mode of operation, so that two modes of operation coexist. Novice users can click on the Visual button to operate, advanced users can be more efficient and smooth gesture operation to complete the use. Hidden gestures, as a shortcut to auxiliary operations, meet the needs of advanced users, and do not let the novice users overwhelmed.

such as the ipad in the photo application, advanced users can zoom in between the photo and albums skillfully switch, do not know the operation of the user does not matter, you can click on the album and click to return to the photo albums button, to operate.

Path can be left and right through the three-screen switch between, of course, do not know users can also click on the main interface button to switch.

Any.do is a very efficient and concise todo application, and many gesture operations are very refreshing. Users can add new tasks through the dropdown page, drop down the page and stop adding voice tasks, shaking the phone to clear the completed task. But if you do not use a gesture, it does not matter, the novice users can click the "Plus" to add new tasks, click the "Microphone" to add voice task, click on "Fork" to clear the completed task, still can use freely.

The introduction of a variety of gesture operations is icing on the cake, in order to give users a better experience. So designers to use for the design, can not be designed for design, icing on the cake must not be affected by the cost of basic operations.

4, Novice guide and help

If your application is really complex, the above methods can not let users fully understand its gesture operation, it is only through the Novice guide and help to teach users hands-on.

Many applications will be used in the first use, translucent callout way to prompt users, quickly and visually show users the main features of the application and gesture operation. such as image processing software snapseed.

Some applications will be the Novice guide to make a video demo, you can dynamically display the actual operation of the application, coupled with speech, users can quickly and effectively know the operation of the application method. such as Any.do.

If it is a long time no use of software, see the Novice guide, and forget how to do it? Use Help in your application can tell you what to do at any time. This help is common in the more complex applications of gesture operations, such as sketchbook.

The above is summed up a number of ways to make gestures easy to find, you are welcome to Pat brick Advice ~ ~

Original link: Zi mu yoyo ' blog