“but wait, there’s more!” a deeper look into temporally placing touch gesture signifiers

Abstract

The language used in interaction design is affected by the wide array of academic backgrounds of interaction designers. Therefore one word may have several meanings, which can be confusing when conducting research in this field. In this paper, we define three levels of interaction: macro-, micro- and nanointeractions, the latter of which is the focus of this study. We use Buxton’s three state model to break down common gestures on touch interfaces into nanointeractions, thereby identifying where in the process of a gesture its signifiers can appear. This is useful when overloading controls in small interfaces. We conducted an experiment to determine whether the temporal placement of a signifier before, during, or after a gesture made any difference for the discoverability of a double and long tap affordance. No clear tendencies were found regarding the temporal placement of the signifier. However, the concept of nanointeractions can be a valuable tool for interaction design.