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Designing Gestural Interfaces
book

Designing Gestural Interfaces

by Dan Saffer
November 2008
Intermediate to advanced content levelIntermediate to advanced
272 pages
9h 16m
English
O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Content preview from Designing Gestural Interfaces

FLING TO SCROLL

WHAT

Similar to Flick to Nudge, a strong fling of the index finger in any direction moves the screen in that direction, if possible. This gesture is also known as kinetic or momentum scrolling.

USE WHEN

Use Fling to Scroll to rapidly flip through screens or long lists as a simple scroll.

WHY

Since grasping and moving aren't possible with a 2D screen, flinging is a natural gesture for moving items around the screen or for scrolling long lists to be traversed quickly in a very natural interaction that mimics the physical world.

HOW

The index finger lightly touches the screen and moves in a straight line in one direction. If the tip of the finger is used, it can indicate a light fling, whereas the use of a finger pad (combined with a longer duration) can indicate more of a push or pull. (Objects on-screen can react differently to both.)

Based on the speed of the fling, the movement of the object or scrolling of the screen will continue after the gesture is complete, slowing to a gentle stop. The rate of the fling is translated into momentum, which is slowed and eventually stopped by simulated friction. One variation on this is to use two finger flings, which could trigger a similar system response, such as rapid scrolling or a multipage scroll.

Scroll bars indicating position can also be helpful when this pattern is deployed, either always visible or appearing as necessary.

Utilizing some kind of feedback, such as a visual bounce, haptic buzz, or sound when the user reaches the ...

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9780596156756Errata