Interface Design for Single-Handed Use of Small Devices
Amy K. Karlson · 2006
Mobile devices are poised to become the world’s most pervasive modern convenience, yet the technology and user distribution have advanced much faster than solutions for addressing the multitude of usability challenges inherent in portable computing. The concurrent trends of shrinking device forms and increasing feature sets alone compromise the ease and expressiveness of interaction and presentation, while at the same time, mobile environments place increased demands on users’ mental and physical resources. Among the unique constraints of mobile computing, my thesis work focuses the physical demands of mobility, and in particular scenarios that find users with only one hand available. My research considers the challenge of onehanded device use from two perspectives: 1) foundations investigating fundamental characteristics and limitations of single-thumb interaction with small devices; and 2) applications - using this knowledge in developing effective solutions for the input, access and management of information with a single hand.