Activity Zones for Touchscreen Tablets and Phones
Looking at some apps for both iPhone and iPad, I discovered some of the best of them have placed controls in ways that best match the ergonomics of our hands while holding them, particularly the saddle joint of the human thumb, with its ability to roll in a particular almost-45 degree sweep. In order to access other parts of the screen requires a reach with the index finger or an extension of the thumb to access it.
Thus, it makes sense, when designing mobile touchscreen apps, to pay attention to these activity zones. Put the high-use controls in the Easy zones, and controls that are less used (and certainly those you don’t want accidentally pressed) in the Reach zones.
Tablet Activity Zones
Mobile Phone Activity Zones
This was written by Dan Saffer. Posted on Friday, January 14, 2011, at 12:24 pm. Filed under Interaction Design, Touchscreens. Bookmark the permalink. Follow comments here with the RSS feed. Post a comment or leave a trackback.
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15 Comments
Nice work, Dan!
Nice! Only comment I have is that my reach zone on a mobile phone is reversed since I’m left handed.
Yes, I should have noted that it is revered for the 7-10% of the population that are left-handed.
Good stuff Dan. Finally somebody that put the word out there. In my opinion designing apps based on this knowhow should be standard and yet so many companies fail at placing buttons in the easy to reach locations.
Thanks Dan – I assume the lower diagrams are specific to a right-handed user and we would expect the reverse for a lefty?
Nice work, but the title should change to “Activity Zones for iPads and iPhones”…
Rob, it would be reverse for lefties for mobile.
Abel, I used iPad/iPhone images to illustrate, but I’m pretty sure the principles hold true for any tablets and phone of similar dimensions.
Regarding portrait phone layouts: I tend to grip smartphones somewhat higher up, with my little finger supporting the phone, so I find the area corresponding to the iPhone dock or Android tab a ‘reach’ area in portrait mode, and the top left corner not a problem at all.
My takeaway for phone design is to devote the screen corners to less-used controls.
I’m sure you’ve seen many more people using tablets than I have, especially dedicated, experienced tablet users.
Does your experience of this group bear out your apparent assumption that tablet users grip the corners of the device with their thumbs in ‘texting’ position?
Will: Obviously some mileage may vary by user: how they hold a tablet and the size of their hands/fingers. But what I’ve seen seems to be holding corners or near corners, sometimes with the corners resting in the palm. Some (myself included) tend to grip higher up.
On the iPad the upper left reach zone depicted is not always reach, though, given that you hold it in another way. I most oftenly use my iPad on the train, in which I hold it with the left hand in the upper left corner. Holding it like this I can use my left thumb to click in the upper left corner. Apps like Reeder and Flipboard are designed for this kind of usage. One of the most frequently used buttons in these apps is he back button. In both of these apps it is located in the upper left corner and it works fine and gives a nice flow since you do not have to lift your hand to go back.
Great article! I will keep this in mind when I design the touch-screen version of my online fine art photography gallery.
And THAT is why Safari on the iPad feels so awkward. I’m always looking for the back/forward/bookmarks on the bottom, like the iPhone.
Helpful designs!
I have to disagree.
Based on my observation, most iPhone users use the device with two hands. Left hand for holding, right hand for operating – mainly the index finger.
The diagrams aren’t false, they’re just true to users holding and operating the phone with one hand, the right one.
If I may put a little more fuel on the lefty-righty discussion and Asaf Sagi’s comment:
The 7-10% left-handedness stat might not reflect the actual uncommon-ness of the activity zone reversal. It might not be 50% but I suspect it’s in between.
I’m right-handed. I might be trying to do something, say, write down a phone number on a piece of paper from my mobile. Right there I’m using the device as a lefty would.
Just wondering if there’s any value in superimposing the activity zones, which may clutter things, I know) or in some other way, acknowledge this increased potential for reversal beyond one’s inherent handedness.
5 Trackbacks/Pingbacks
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