Interaction Design for One-Handed Use of Mobile Devices

Mobile phones are not only a ubiquitous social accessory, but rapid technology advances have transformed them into feature-rich, Internet-enabled mobile PCs – a role once reserved for touchscreen-based personal digital assistants (PDAs). Although the most widespread phone styles in circulation feature the classic combination of numeric keypad and non-touchscreen display, larger touchscreen devices are gaining ground (as indicated by the buzz around new devices such as Apple’s iPhone and LG’s Prada phone). Yet as devices evolve, the persisting constraints on design will be users’ finite visual, physical, and mental resources for performing computing activities while mobile. My research over the past 3 years has focused on the specific limitation that mobile users often have only one hand available to operate a device. This can be especially problematic for touchscreen based devices, which are typically designed for two-handed stylus operation. In my talk I will present the progression of my work, highlighting key findings, and then speak in depth about ThumbSpace, a technique that addresses thumb precision and reach problems to support generalized one-handed operation of touchscreen interfaces