My first phone was a Motorola Razr and everything after that has been an iPhone. It was simpler to message people without looking when I used my Razr and I was always sure whether or not I pressed the right letter because I felt myself press it and then it vibrated as I added each word. Acknowledging feedback was satisfying but with the iPhone it’s so simple to quickly write a message to a friend rather than slowing down and pressing a button, the transition between each letter seemed quicker. Although buttons have become obsolescent, tactile feedback is still essential and cofounder of Tactus, a technology company says “The physical feedback builds up muscle memory and makes it a more satisfying and more accurate typing experience.”(Rodgers) Although the keyboards used on touchscreen devices are based on the original physical mobile keyboards, one important feature is lost: the buttons cannot provide the tactile response that physical buttons do when touched or clicked. Without the tactile feedback, users can only rely on audio and visual cues which can be ineffective in mobile applications due to small screen size, outside noise, social restrictions and the demands of other real world tasks (Glasgow) It is rather irritating to have to look at what you actually typed to see whether or not you actually hit the letter you think you hit. Using the physical keyboard produces significantly fewer errors and the greatest input speed with phrases being entered up to 10 seconds faster than on the standard touchscreen. (Glasgow) Tactile feedback is needed to improve experience. Typing is a better experience and phrases were entered up to 6 seconds faster with tactile feedback and accuracy scores were as high as 74% compared to the poor accuracy scores on the standard touchscreen keyboard. (Glasgow)The addition of tactile feedback to the touchscreen significantly improved finger- based text entry, bringing it close to the performance of a real physical keyboard. A second experiment showed that higher specification tactile actuators could improve performance even further. The results suggest that manufacturers should use tactile feedback in their touchscreen devices to regain some of the feeling lost when interacting on a touchscreen with a finger. (Glasgow) Besides touchscreens’ problem of lack of confirmation, tactile feedback helps address other HMI (human-machine interface) problems: In direct sunlight, you can’t easily see graphical changes. When you’re touching the screen, the target is often obscured. When engaged in other primary tasks (such as driving or attending to patients), you can’t always be looking at the screen. Moreover, you can’t always rely on audio cues for confirmation or guidance. Sometimes the environment is too noisy or requires silence. (Levin) Several studies show that users strongly prefer tactile feedback in the HMI, because it helps improve their performance and makes them feel more in control. (Levin)
Works Cited
Hoggan, Eve, Stephen Brewster, and Jody Johnston. "Investigating the Effectiveness of Tactile Feedback for Mobile Touchscreens." Glasgow Interactive Systems Group, Department of Computing Science University of Glasgow, n.d. Web. 1 Mar.2015.<http%3A%2F%2Fciteseerx.ist.psu.edu%2Fviewdoc%2Fdownload%3 Fdoi%3D10.1.1.300.3420%26rep%3Drep1%26type%3Dpdf>.
Rodgers, Ian. "New Tactile Mobile Phone Keyboards May Be Coming Back." Your Single Source for News RSS. N.p., 20 Feb. 2015. Web. 01 Mar. 2015. <http://yoursinglesourcefornews.com/technology/724/new- tactile-mobile-phone- keyboards-may-be-coming-back>.
Works Cited
Hoggan, Eve, Stephen Brewster, and Jody Johnston. "Investigating the Effectiveness of Tactile Feedback for Mobile Touchscreens." Glasgow Interactive Systems Group, Department of Computing Science University of Glasgow, n.d. Web. 1 Mar.2015.<http%3A%2F%2Fciteseerx.ist.psu.edu%2Fviewdoc%2Fdownload%3 Fdoi%3D10.1.1.300.3420%26rep%3Drep1%26type%3Dpdf>.
Levin, Michael. "Integrate Tactile Feedback into Touchscreen HMI." (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 1 Mar. 2015. <http://www.eetasia.com/ARTICLES/2007JUN/PDF/EEOL_ 2007JUN01_CTRLD_OPT_TA.pdf>.
Rodgers, Ian. "New Tactile Mobile Phone Keyboards May Be Coming Back." Your Single Source for News RSS. N.p., 20 Feb. 2015. Web. 01 Mar. 2015. <http://yoursinglesourcefornews.com/technology/724/new- tactile-mobile-phone- keyboards-may-be-coming-back>.