There are certain conventions out there. Our users have complex schemata and we, as designers, understand how to approach these mental models. I catch myself thinking of the new technologies breaking the horizon, in particular, the multi touch interfaces (iPhone, Jeff Han, etc.). Controls work differently when using these interfaces. Everyday our brains are moving the mouse across a sweet mouse pad and make the connection between the cursor and clicks from that pad to the screen. (Currently, I have a connection to my mouse pad at very personal level.)
What adjustments are we going to need to make to ensure our users are as comfortable with the human sense of touch with the computer? Are keyboards, mice and mice pads at the beginning of their end?
Austin Govella
493 Reputation points
Posted 2008/02/26 @ 00:12AM with
Keyboards, definitely not, but I think mice are trickier.
Graphic artists and illustrators would prefer not to have their hand obscuring their work on screen. I can see them continuing to use mice (or a stylus like with Wacom tablets).
I don’t see why most people wouldn’t prefer touch interfaces. It seems like changing element focus on the screen would be nice, the ergonomics seem like multi-touch touchpads near the keyboard might work better.
I’m not convinced we’ll have to make many adjustments: Touch is such a basic, visceral part of your humanity. I’m pretty positive that the first thing my newborn learned to do was to touch.
Kel Smith
3 Reputation points
Posted 2008/04/12 @ 09:06AM with
Great question. I see (hopefully) increased study regarding the utilization of Universal Design principles to digital media. The implied ergonomic value of multi-touch lends well to the creation of barrier-free haptic interfaces.
I don’t foresee the end of the keyboard/mouse model; as alternative forms of input become more widespread, however, there will be a need to accommodate those usages.
It will also be interesting to see how commercial software evolves to match this shifting value paradigm, particularly in the business sector. What would Microsoft Word look like if you could control it haptically?
Alexander Wilms
63 Reputation points
Posted 2008/05/07 @ 13:24PM with
Had a nice experience myself – I recently got an IPod Touch and immediately was able to use it – the controls are familiar and triggering them directly instead of using a mouse pointer comes very naturally. A couple of weeks after I got this nice gadget I got my hands on one of these new eBooks. I immediately wanted to use my fingers on the screen to scroll the pages – and found out that this system still uses arrow keys. Word 2010 will still use elements that people can “touch” – like buttons and even menus, and a microphone to dictate the text. You will be able to manipulate the text directly on the screen (e.g. mark and select it) which comes more closely to the natural haptic use of our hands than a mouse :-)