Floating Hierarchical Menus for Swipe-Based Navigation on Touchscreen Mobile Devices

Abstract

In this paper, we present two menu implementations that allow swipe-based navigation through deep hierarchical menu configurations. Instead of utilizing repetitive tap-based selections, the proposed interaction relies on continuous finger movement across different submenus. The menus are implemented as a service; hence they can easily be attached to the target mobile application and visualized as a semi-transparent floating widget on top of it. Similar to the marking menu concept, the provided designs also enable a smooth transition from novice to expert user, as swipe gestures used for menu item selections can be memorized and subsequently executed faster. Both menus initially act as a floating action button, allowing the user to change its location by dragging it to the preferred place on the screen. Visualization of the menu starts in this pivotal position, according to the utilized design: Tile menu or Pie menu. The Tile menu uses a linear scheme and dynamically occupies more screen real-estate when a submenu is triggered. On the other hand, the Pie menu is displayed as a circular widget without extra containers and uses touch-dwelling for submenu invocation. Implementations of the proposed menu designs are evaluated and comparatively analyzed by conducting a controlled experiment involving 30 participants. We present the results of this empirical research, specifically focusing on menu navigation efficiency in two different contexts of use, the related interaction workload, and usability attributes.