We’ve heard it before, and we’re repeating it again: User Experience (UX) is the defining concept soaking through the porous imagination of web developers across the world. Getting our human intuitions to match pleasurably with a website or app design is, by now, the standardised pulse behind every development project. And touch technology is making users feel all the more empowered with whatever’s in their hands.
How so? It’s a good question, warranting 5 reasons why touch tech has such a massive influence on UX:
1. Natural functionality
In the heady days of boxy, complicated computer design, people had to undergo a massive learning curve to comb through the internet, and some still find aspects of browsing difficult and ponderous. Touch screens respond to common sense – flick a page down, rest your finger on this link, scroll to the right or left. They’re much easier for a tech novice to pick up.
2. Sanitary saviours
When there’s a keyboard and mouse stained with dust or unidentifiable spots of ‘something’, your fondness for a shared computer tends to drain away. Touch screens, by contrast, are built to stay fairly hygienic, resisting grease and accumulated dirt more-so than their cumbersome forebears. This makes them perfect for public displays in restaurants, bars, hospitals and a host of other, clean-minded venues.
3. Upping the speed
It’s an accepted truism that, in the age of high-speed broadband, a couple of seconds’ frustration will turn people away from your site in a flash. Like a magician’s worst trick, they’ll vanish in a puff of cyber-smoke, never to be seen again. At least, this might’ve been the case before we could tap and scroll to our heart’s content, flying lightning-quick around a website. Never underestimate the convenience of a rapid thumb.
4. Saving space, everywhere
Unlike the required keyboard, hard-drive and monitor that collate for standard computer usage, touch devices are a lot smaller, ridding themselves of the bulk associated with old-school browsing gear. People can take them wherever they go: the park, the shops, the esteemed business conference… therefore, a user has more choice at their disposal for sifting through your virtual creation, without upsetting a tight space.
5. Far more durable
The great majority of touch screen devices last for years at a time. This obviously depends on how well the device is looked after, but there’s a much reduced chance of technical malfunction than, say, a set of PC keys that’s been hammered to death. And this can only be a good thing for the user experience.
Do you see, now, why touch technologies win hands down, every time? If you’re striving for an ace in the UX deck, we can’t recommend touch screens and functionality enough. The Code Guy has an abundance of ideas for integrating a touch system with innovative software and web solutions.
Get in touch to find out about our development capabilities, and discover why we’re the ‘final touch’ to your internet ambitions…