Back in April, we posted about the touchscreen vision of the future, as exemplified via Corning Glass’s A Day Made of Glass viral video. If you haven’t seen the video and read Andy Keith’s post, check it out now – it’s an engaging B2B video (oxymoron though it may be) that envisions a world where touchscreen devices are ubiquitous; every glass surface around you can give you information conveniently and stylishly.
Back in November, Bret Victor, an engineer who worked on Apple’s iPad user interface, wrote a fascinating piece criticizing the limitations of touchscreen design. Touchscreens are certainly a great step forward in interface technology, he argues, but they don’t bear much relation to how we actually interact with things.
We do a lot of things by touch, but touchscreens – despite their name – make those activities almost entirely visual, thanks to their lack of feedback. For example, I can type with my eyes closed on a regular keyboard. But I can’t type on a touchscreen without looking. I don’t know where the keys are, or if I’ve pressed them properly. I’ve got to give it my full attention, and look at it to know where I’m typing.
“Is that so bad, to dump the tactile for the visual?” Victor writes. “Try this: close your eyes and tie your shoelaces. No problem at all, right? Now, how well do you think you could tie your shoes if your arm was asleep? Or even if your fingers were numb?” We can interact with objects in all kinds of fascinating ways with our hands, and all touchscreens allow is a one-fingered tap. With Blackberries, you’d see people bent over their phones, interacting with them solely through thumb presses, and giving themselves repetitive stress injuries in the process. In the years since, technology has advanced so far that now we’re one finger over. The index fingers have started doing the majority of the work (not counting those two-fingered “zoom” gestures, typing on a tablet screen’s keyboard, etc. – you get the picture).
Victor doesn’t have any recommendations at the moment – after all, the mouse and keyboard have been around for a long time despite their limitations. The pen has been in use for even longer, and we certainly don’t try to hold it in dozens of different ways. Perhaps, though, there are ways that we can interact with our technology that will make it even more natural and dynamic. Any ideas? And while you’re considering it, definitely read Victor’s article for yourself. On your tablet, if you like.
Image from Wikimedia Commons, used under a Creative CommonsCC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
