Design for Digital, Touchscreens, and People
We’re not here to just make things prettier, shinier, or more colorful.
We make sure your product design ideas meet your organization’s goals and methods, and the needs and expectations of your users.
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9 February 2022
The "bigger targets are easier to click" Fitts’ Law is generally misunderstood and misapplied for mouse, but presents us even bigger challenges when moving to touchscreen devices.
I explore the history and context in which it was created, the assumptions it has which apply to almost no users on any devices today, and give some advice for how to apply the old lessons to modern, touchscreen devices.
There are over two billion portable touchscreen devices in use today, and hundreds of millions more installed in cars and kiosks. Don't base your design choices on rumor, gut instinct, or bad old data.
4ourth Mobile has performed research into how people really hold and touch their mobile phones and tablets, and it's all free for the taking. You don't even fill out a contact form to have a salesman send you a PDF report.
Don't guess or calculate, but measure icons, font sizes, and touch targets right on the screen. Keep size guidelines and tips right in your pocket.
If you build, design, specify, test, or evaluate apps or websites that use touchscreens, you need a Touch Template.