[Dan Gorgone] Touchscreens have introduced a new kind of interaction

where users no longer need a keyboard, mouse, or any other device to make it work.

Simply by using a finger or 2, users can hit buttons,

they can select text, zoom in and out, scroll—and those are just the basics.

But by adding a new way to interact with your design,

a new set of concerns has been created

related to touch and gestures.

Since mobile devices can be held in one hand or both,

using a touch interface means that the fingers are very close to the screen at all times.

While this can speed up interaction, it can also lead to accidental touches or mistakes.

Users will also have different sized fingers and hands,

while others may have challenges with their vision and physical dexterity.

Therefore, trying to click a link, while potentially easier with a touch pad or a mouse,

can take a bit more focus on a much smaller screen and device.

[Amit Bijlani] So, we're talking about usability, right? And one of the key components

when it comes to a mobile interface are buttons.

There is that fine line where there are too many buttons,

so you're presenting too many options to the users

and then there's that fine line when there are not enough buttons.

There's this whole trend to add gestures—I get it.

You are using the smartphone that's capable of multitouch gestures or just gestures plainly.

You can have double-tap, long tap. You can have multiple finger swipes.

It's beautiful and I think all apps should take advantage of that,

but the problem with these gestures are sometimes that they are hidden.

What do I mean by hidden? An app takes great advantage of these gestures,

so you have swipe left, right, up, down, double-tap—all of these things,

but you don't know of these until you start swiping.

I'm not going to open up an app and swipe it all over to figure out what gestures are there.

You have to walk me through all these gestures

and explain to me what these gestures can do,

but where you have to visually indicate that something should be tapped, put a button there.

Make sure that button is the size of a finger,

so you're not putting tiny buttons all over the place—

when you're trying to tap one thing you end up tapping something else.

[Gorgone] Links and buttons should give some kind of visual feedback

to show that they've been clicked or pressed.

Since the early days of the Web, alternate colors could be chosen for active links

to show that they were clicked by the user.

These days, many apps have buttons of different shapes and sizes

that should also clearly show that they've been pressed.

This can help users confirm they pressed the right button.

You'll see this in action on many mobile touch keyboards now

used as a visual aid, since users probably won't be looking at what they're typing,

but rather what buttons they're pressing.

Something else to consider—people are using mobile devices everywhere.

You could count on laptops being on a lap or a desk when they're being used,

but phones and tablets are being used while walking, sitting,

laying down, exercising, and much more.

So what can you do about all this? Well, just like any design,

we can't guarantee 100% usability or satisfaction

and we really shouldn't try—attempting to solve every problem

for every exception is just not worth the effort.

On the contrary, we can simply try to anticipate

as many of the usual needs as possible

and take care of the majority of our users.

Part of this problem can be solved by using mobile-friendly design frameworks

that have accounted for many of these issues already

within its code, design, and best practices.

Another way to improve your designs is to continue to use them on mobile devices.

Designers should have regular access to smartphones and tablets,

so that they can proof their work, and again,

emulators can be another helpful alternative.

Either way, becoming used to using these designs yourself

and testing them with others can give you

insight into improving your work.