iPhone’s (Lack of) Buttons
by DanLike a lot of people, I’m initially impressed with Apple’s iPhone and stunned that it has actually seen the light of day after so many years of rumors. I love that interaction paradigms like the multi touch display technology is finally making its way into consumer devices.
I do have my reservations, however, mostly around, well, buttons. The new device has only one physical button, and while the simplicity and flexibility of having one/no buttons and only using “soft” digital buttons is nice, I wonder how well that will work over time. As others have pointed out, “non-mechanical buttons actually reduce the user experience rather than enhance it. Often because…static buttons are not used in a correct context and [they] lack two important things: tactile and haptic feedback.” I wonder if the iPhone will attempt to compensate for this, much like the Wii’s controller slightly vibrates when you roll over a button. Without buttons, it’s really just a smooth slab of plastic.
My other reservation is about the need to squeeze all of OS X down into the phone. Do we really need that? I think it’s fairly well established that the desktop metaphor is probably the wrong metaphor for small screens. A light(er) weight UI, perhaps one simply of widgets, seems more appropriate.
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January 9th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
More importantly, are us Canadians going to have to remove our gloves to use the thing?
January 9th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
… and while the simplicity and flexibility of having one/no buttons and only using “soft” digital buttons is nice…
While I’m with you on your skepticism of non-mechanical buttons, I’d argue that the iPhone’s dynamic buttons are more than nice to have - they’re critical to its apparent breakthrough in creating a complex convergent device where ease of use triumphs. I too am hopeful that there is some sort of haptic or auditory feedback to help make pushing the iPhone’s virtual buttons feel like pushing real ones.
I think it’s fairly well established that the desktop metaphor is probably the wrong metaphor for small screens.
From the few pics I’ve seen of the “home screen” it looks like it exposes the iPhone’s various functions as a collection of widgets. As mentioned on the IxDA mailing list, it’ll be interesting to see how the interface evolves as Apple adds new widgets and other functions.
Wow, tons to dig into from an interface/interaction design standpoint.
January 9th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
I currently use a Treo and I’m sure my cognitive memory (as I glide my hands across the tiny physical buttons) greatly enhances the usability of this phone.
But Apple has a good point in that they will no longer be restricted to a single user interface - the possibilities are now endless.
But - feeling and texture is an essential (primal?) aspect of being human and going down the path of a flat interactive world isn’t where I ultimately want to be.
Surely this will only be an interim step until physical UI’s can dynamically change shape? (I’m thinking of what nano-technlogy promises here…)
January 9th, 2007 at 6:21 pm
I thought it to also has a ring/silent hard button on the side? At least there’s that.
And can this really be “running OSX” or is that a marketing slight of hand? OSX demands a lot of RAM and a reasonable amount of disk space (though I guess you don’t need things like print drivers here). And what chip’s inside this sucker? It’s sure not an Intel Core Duo, if it’s even an Intel chip at all?
January 10th, 2007 at 7:44 am
One of the first things that came to my mind was “Wow, Apple is just completely ignoring the visually impaired with this device”
January 10th, 2007 at 8:27 am
Durability of plastic surface is also a concern. All things aside (haptics etc) part of the experience is going to include;
Carefully putting the device in a dedicated case or pocket that has no other items, e.g. pens. You wont be able to simply reach in to your handbag, or general use coat pocket, to grab a call. Should you wear earings when using it?
Lets say the inevitable happens and you scratch the screen, how will interactions feel as you drag your fingers across it?
I call it ‘new shoe syndrome’ you get a new item and its pride of place, you look after it and take care not to get it dirty. A few weeks later you’ve lost a little focus and take a little less care, a year down the road one of two things happen.
a)You’ve got those comfortable old jeans that ooze character, you love them. See also: leather jackets, baseball caps, moleskine notebooks.
b)The sole is wearing thin and you promise yourself to buy something a little more practical next time.
The iPhone could end up being the latter. Its one thing to keep your environmentally sensitive iPod tucked away in its protective case as you listen to music. Its another kettle of fish if the purpose is to give the device full attention.
January 10th, 2007 at 11:39 am
[…] Dan Saffer, in the Adaptive Path blog, wonders whether or not the lack of tactile and haptic responses will harm the experience, despite the device’s feature set. […]
January 10th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
[…] Kommentar Roger Johanson tilgjengelighet Nyansert syn fra IT-bloggen Mangel på knapper […]
January 10th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
The Sony Ericsson w950i that I’m using at the moment has a combination of touch screen and more traditional buttons. The touch screen has settings which enable feedback, both audible (a beep - not turned on) and physical (a vibrate function - used) though the basic action of tapping itself has a level of satisfaction when finishing a message and hitting send. All of which means using the touch screen interface is a good experience. Unfortunately the physical buttons are not so great!
January 11th, 2007 at 8:38 am
[…] Tacto.. Me gusta tocar, me gustan los botones con sus redondeces, sus delimitaciones físicas que me permiten ubicarme en el interfaz sin necesidad de mirar. Supongo que para muchos usuarios, es importante el feedback físico de los botones al teclear. El interfaz del iPhone exige completa atención para usarlo. Un ejemplo: me llaman, tengo el teléfono en el bolsillo y no puedo atender la llamada… ¿cómo lo cuelgo? […]
January 12th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
[…] Dan Saffer of Adaptive Path has reservations about a lack of buttons: “I do have my reservations, however, mostly around, well, buttons. The new device has only one physical button, and while the simplicity and flexibility of having one/no buttons and only using “soft” digital buttons is nice, I wonder how well that will work over time. As others have pointed out, “non-mechanical buttons actually reduce the user experience rather than enhance it. Often because…static buttons are not used in a correct context and [they] lack two important things: tactile and haptic feedback.” I wonder if the iPhone will attempt to compensate for this, much like the Wii’s controller slightly vibrates when you roll over a button. Without buttons, it’s really just a smooth slab of plastic.” […]
January 12th, 2007 at 11:17 pm
[…] adaptive path » blog » blog archive » iPhone’s (Lack of) Buttons Besides worrying about the touch screen, Dan wonders if we need OS X on the iPhone. Does using the OS equal using the desktop metaphor? I agree that would be a Bad Thing on a phone. (tags: iPhone touchscreen OSX metaphors desktop DanSaffer IxD interactiondesign apple) […]
January 13th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
[…] So, thank you Steve, and thank you Apple, for raising the bar and setting a new standard for how mobile devices are ought to be in the 20th century. You’re the new leaders of the pack, so innovate on! ”There’s some debate going on why mechanical or hardware buttons are more useful than soft buttons” [back] Print This Post […]
January 23rd, 2007 at 12:08 pm
[…] Dan Saffer: I do have my reservations, however, mostly around, well, buttons. The new device has only one physical button, and while the simplicity and flexibility of having one/no buttons and only using “soft” digital buttons is nice, I wonder how well that will work over time. As others have pointed out, “non-mechanical buttons actually reduce the user experience rather than enhance it. Often because…static buttons are not used in a correct context and [they] lack two important things: tactile and haptic feedback.” I wonder if the iPhone will attempt to compensate for this, much like the Wii’s controller slightly vibrates when you roll over a button. Without buttons, it’s really just a smooth slab of plastic. […]
February 11th, 2007 at 7:15 pm
assumptions!assumptions!let’s reserve judgment when the iphone is actually out!
June 18th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
I’ve owned a Samsung PDA phone with no buttons. Several things bothered me with that phone.
Very difficult to dial when you are on the go. And the dial by voice was crap when there was any kind of background noise.
Constantly activating while in my pocket draining battery power.
I eventually gave up and got regular vanilla phone that was so much easier to use.
January 25th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
I like the iphone’s keyboard and after 6 months (and 15,000 emails
I can say it’s very good keyboard for a mobile phone. If you try the blackberry/tero one - you will see that after few min. on the iPhone you type faster (at least that’s my experience).