Button up the user experience
How did we implement buttons in TacTile and make them feel... tactile?
What is a satisfying button and from where can we draw inspiration? Old cars, old hi-fi systems have really great buttons and clear user experience.
Pressing a button has a very clear button pressed in state. If it don't depress much, it often lights up instead. There is a good 'thunk' sound when you press it.
Can we improve the button user experience?
Unfortunately, physical buttons cannot be cancelled if you press it in. Not so influential if you accidentally turn on your AC. Can be influential/frustrating if it means you misplace a piece and lose a game, or hit publish on your draft newsletter.
Being able to cancel clicks is common behaviour in operating systems. For example, go to close the browser, but then pull your mouse pointer away before releasing your click. Your click is cancelled!
Bundled together we have:
- Very clear hover state
- Sound when button presses in
- Sound on release
- Clear visual displacement of button to show press state
- Option to cancel the press, with audio notification
Because after the user has pressed the button their gaze may wander (to interpret the rest of the board), we can't cancel based on gaze state. Instead we implemented with movement. So if you move your hand (currently set to 20cm), we interpret that as on 'oops'. You get a little 'cancel' audio and the button returns to its previous state.
What does it look it?
Yes, of course we support slamming the button
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