One-Handed Thumb Use on Smart Phones by Semi-literate and Illiterate Users in India

Abstract

Abstract. There is a tremendous potential for developing mobile-based productivity tools and occupation specific applications for the semi-literate and illiterate users in India. One-handed thumb use on the touchscreen of smart phone or touch phone is considered as an effective alternative than the use of stylus or index finger, to free the other hand for supporting the occupational activity. In this context, usability research and experimental tests are conducted to understand the role of fine motor control, usability of thumb as the interaction apparatus and the ergonomic needs of users. The paper also touches upon cultural, racial and anthropometric aspects, which need due consideration while designing the mobile interface. Design recommendations are evolved to enhance the effectiveness of one-handed thumb use on smart phone, especially for the benefit of semi-literate and illiterate users.

One-Touch Pose Detection on Touchscreen Smartphones

“…Degree of significance given as p. Table 1 suggests that the ergonomic characteristics limb length and touch shape width of the thumb are related to the change in the digital touch values. The thumb's fixation to the hand holding the device and the resulting limited area of movement may cause a greater degree of device motion together with a flatter connection angle of thumb and screen, as also found by Goel et al [2] and Katre [6]. The shortage of statistically significant correlations between physical and digital properties for the index finger indicates that distinctions between finger and thumb input (based solely on correlations between their average physical and digital properties) may not be made sweepingly for the whole screen, but rather require a subdivision of the screen to detect differences in the values of each with reference to a spatial location.…”

“…1). This procedure is similar to Katre's [6] for measuring the thumb's shape in different parts of the screen.…”

The One Hand Wonder - A Framework for Enhancing One-handed Website Operation on Touchscreen Smartphones

“…To verify the findings of previous researchers (Katre, 2010;Wobbrock et al, 2008) promoting a curved interface for thumb-based GUIs, we conducted a small user study with 7 participants (3 F, mean age 31.43 years, SD 4.65), all of who declared to be frequent users of touchscreen mobile devices. Participants were asked to swipe 10 times using their right and left thumb without looking at the device.…”

“…On this basis they suggest a horizontal layout of interactive elements on the screen to accommodate the economic peculiarities of the thumb and improve usability. Katre (Katre, 2010) shows that a curved arrangement of elements on a touchscreen is perceived as comfortable and easy, as it supports a more natural circular motion of the thumb. An application of this is found in interfaces such as ArchMenu (Huot and Lecolinet, 2007) or ThumbMenu, where the user moves their thumb over an arch of elements placed in the bottom right corner of the screen.…”

Thumb Reach of Indonesian Young Adult When Interacting with Touchscreen of Single-Handed Device: A Preliminary Study

“…It seems reasonable since the use of the thumb in one-handed interaction was considered to be more effective than the use of stylus or index finger [6]. People used their thumb in various posture to gain a more accurate touching point on the screen [7].…”