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Subject:
From:
Leigh Lammert <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Leigh Lammert <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 7 Jan 2004 08:58:58 -0600
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Last month I posted the following question. The replies I received are
listed below. Thanks to everyone for responding so quickly!

Posting:
"I'm currently working on a redesign project for a touch-screen application
that incorporates tab-like navigation.   In a recent usability test, most
of the users either didn't notice the tabs, or didn't realize they were
clickable.  The alternative is to use buttons only for navigation, but the
design doesn't allow for all of the main menu options (or sub-options) to
fit nicely on the menu screen.  Has anyone come across research concerning
the effectiveness of using tabs on touch-screens?"

Replies:
1)  I am designing a marine electronics product that uses a touch screen.
We are staying well away from use of tabs primarily because our target
market is assumed not to have prior experience with tabs. Another product
which uses  touchscreen and tabs is the Garmin 2610 in-car GPS unit.  I
don't have a contact at Garmin to share, but I assume they have done some
usability testing.
- Suzanne Currie, Usability and UI Design

2)  A few years ago there was a rather long article in the "Interactions"
magazine of ACM SIGCHI.  It was about a tab-based interface on a future (it
never reached production, after years of R and D and the creation of
prototypes)of a fore runner tablet PC called Uppercase, I think.
 - Alain Vaillancourt, Virtual Glyphs Inc.

3) I don't have any information about tabs that is specific to touch-screen
applications. However, on the Web, usability problems with tabs typically
derive from the visual design of the tabs. If tabs don't actually look and
behave like tabs, users may fail to notice them or have difficulty using
them. Because you referred to 'tab-like navigation', I wonder whether this
could be your problem. As a user, I experienced this problem myself on
Google. I can't tell you how long it took me to notice the 'tabs' above the
search functionality. When tabs are actually rendered to look like tabs,
they seem to be universally recognizable and understood. The tabs should be
visually distinct from one another. It should be clear which tab is
currently selected. The currently selected tab should have a strong visual
connection with its panel. On the Web, this is usually achieved by
rendering the tab in the same color as either its related panel or, if that
is not feasible, a horizontal bar below the tab set that is a 1/4-inch or
more in
height, extends the width of the content area, and to which the selected
tab appears connected. Unless this last guideline is followed, the
currently selected tab does not appear to come to the front.
- Pabini Gabriel-Petit, Spirit Softworks

4)  Just a quick reply - I recently ran an evaluation with some concept
designs for a touch-screen interface. There were no tabs involved but it
was clear that some users had trouble interpreting some  elements as being
'clickable' when they weren't given a 3-D 'button' treatment.
- Pete

5)  Interesting that you should mention, that. We did a two-tab interface
for our car inventory site (not touch screen) and we had huge problems with
people seeing the tabs. We ended up adding a redundant blue link, which
helped a little, but people still tend not to see it. You can see the site
at: www.enterprise.com/carsales. It was the best we could do given the time
frame, development, etc.
- Christy Wells, Product Manager, Enterprise Rent-A-Car

6) I don't have pointers to research, but I believe one of the first uses
of simulated "tabbed panels" on a computer screen was with
touch-screens.  It was in the mid-1980s, on a big high-end Xerox  copier.
The copier's controls were displayed on a touch-screen.
There were so many functions that all of them wouldn't fit on one screen,
so they organized the screen into tabbed panels.

It is unclear whether Xerox's use of tabs for this copier pre-dated Apple
Hypercard's tabs.  One or the other was the first use of tabs on a computer
screen.
- Jeff Johnson, Ph.D., UI Wizards, Inc., Product Usability Consulting


Leigh Lammert
Certified Usability Analyst
MasterCard International
[log in to unmask]

Phone: 636-722-7267
Fax: 636-722-2878

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