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The Keyboardless iPhone: Less poking, more stroking.

By Sinclair Smith - June 18, 2007

in Tech

Last Wednesday's article in The New York Times' Business Day section brought us this exposé: "That iPhone is missing a keyboard." Amid debate surrounding Apple's awaited release are questions as to whether the elimination of a mechanical keyboard in favor of a touch screen will cause the iPhone to revolutionize interface technology or fall flat. Bill Moggeridge of IDEO is quoted saying, "The tactile feedback of a mechanical keyboard is a pretty important aspect of human interaction--if you take that away, you tend to be very insecure." With respect to Mr. Moggeridge--and I hope to remain employable--I would encourage him and those who hold like-minded opinions to get out of the office more often.

Anyone who's had sex or owned a pet, and has done either with a modicum of success, knows how to push the right button without a mechanical keyboard. (For those less successful, the secret usually lies in a repetitive, caressing gesture.) These are ancient human instincts and basic tactile behavior. Sure there's insecurity at first--and I've known my share--but with practice, patience, and care all manner of feedback is possible. And what and where is tactile feedback anyway? A click feeling at the fingertip? Or a sight or sound cognitively and emotionally registered? All of this begs the question, "what is a keyboard and how should we use it?" As technology advances, I say let's get back to our roots: less clicking and poking, and more petting and stroking. So what is a keyboard? To my mind a keyboard, whether mechanical or non-mechanical, is ostensibly a map. By entering particular coordinates in a sequence, one creates meaning. That meaning can come in the form of text from the QWERTY keyboard, or in the form of music from the piano keyboard. A numbered dance step mapped out on the floor (without which many dancers seem secure) is a non-mechanical keyboard of sorts, creating emotional and sensual meaning from movement. The oldest, non-mechanical map for pushing buttons that I can think of is laid out on the Chinese acupuncture chart.

Acupuncturist Katherine Echo Kim says that the points and meridians on the chart are useful for learning at first and may be consulted for reference, but successful communication with a patient's body comes from intuition and feedback. "You feel the tissue and the muscles move, and listen to the sound of the patient." Oooh. . . yeah. . . OW! "Feedback comes from sensitivity and listening. It's a learning process." Successfully needling someone's buttons becomes a learned act of intuition and the original map can be forgotten. Interestingly, on the subject of poking vs. stroking keyboards, Ms. Kim remarks that "finger tips contain the ends of meridians that extend into the core of the body," and how you use your finger tips can "effect other organs, emotions, and over all wellness." So there may be reason to believe that a gentle stroking gesture can make the user feel better too.

After all, isn't the delicate thumb petting that controls its scroll wheel part of what makes the iPod so cared for and coveted? "No doubt about it," says Eric Chan, President of Ecco Design in New York . "From when we were born, we want to touch and be touched with a natural gesture. Technology should be as natural as possible." Ecco Design's l'Finesse Personal Pond for Toyota/Lexus is an experiment in product control and feedback using fluid hand gestures. And guess what? No mechanical keyboard. The natural dance of hands that controls the Personal Pond is reminiscent of gestures required to play the Theremin, that obscure and early example of keyboardless technology. "So long as there is some strong and successful feedback," continues Mr. Chan," such as light or sound, we ought to pursue the effortless gesture."

So will Apple's new attempt at mechanical keyboardlessness result in insecurity among early adopters and disappointing sales? Or will gently touching and caressing a plastic screen provide enough tactile and visual feedback to make the iPhone as intimately coveted as the iPod? Faced with these important questions, one potential consumer responded on condition of anonymity, "Will it vibrate?"

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Greg B

17 years ago

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So reading these comments, I hear the position people can adapt to all sorts of designs. The argument that people can use a particular interface does not mean they should use that interface. Many of these comments say 'people can get by fine' and that they don't need the feedback provided by other sorts of interfaces (pianos, keyboards). As ID practitioners and students, maybe we should more positively understand and defend the experiences our design choices subject users to, instead of saying 'they don't need X, they will be able to manage.'

Bertrand is one poster who recognizes this when he says the possibilities for sorts of interactions are multiplied. However, he should go further and hypothesize what those interactions could and should be. Mr. Smith tries to do this in the original article (albeit rather vaguely).

To Jay: "So if anyone could make a clear argument as to why you would need to take your eye's [sic] off what you are typing on your mobile, then I don't see a reason why tactile feedback is such a big issue."

Here is a reason, but it does not have to do with taking one's eyes off the mobile: people have emotional attachments to things which they use. Those attachments result from the nature of the interaction with the device. It is quite possible and believable that tactile feedback of the right sort could enhance or cement that connection, so it should not be dismissed simply because it is functionally (in the crudest sense) unnecessary. If we adopted the ascetic position of doing without anything but the absolute necessities, we wouldn't have iPhones or iPods to begin with.
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Bertrand

17 years ago

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Mr Moggeridge is right, we feel unsecured but yes, users will adapt!
I remember in my first internship in product design two years ago I was working on mobile phone concepts. I really wanted to get rid of the hard keyboard with a touchscreen (it just makes sense, right?)and my boss told me "you need to feel the keys to know where your fingers are on the pad and you need a feedback to know if you pushed the key". Actually, for the user, the loss of a hard keyboard is nothing compared to the gain of a wider touchscreen, less feedback but touch a larger screen enhance a lot the possibilities in terms of interactions.
It is just like the Apple remote controller, there are 99% less buttons than an usual remote controller but on the other side it is simpler, more beautiful and you get everything contextually on screen.
I think that nothing is completely necessary, the user will always be ready to get rid of an important function if he gets a better one on another side.
As you say, designers should get out of their office sometimes to get ride of all preconceptions.
Design should not be a knowledge. cause it is the result of a function which varies a lot through the time between many factors such as technologies, manufacturing processes, user behaviors, tastes and habits. It is a process of thoughts about factors at one point in the time.
Anyway, to come back to the topic, I've heard that "a famous eastern electronic device maker" is working on touchscreen allowing tactile feedback, so the matter will not exist anymore in the future.
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jay

17 years ago

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There's a reason why a pianist or a touch typer on a computer keyboard, require feedback, and thats because they don't want to waste there time looking at what they're hands are doing, they need to be thinking about the task at hand and that would to be reading music or reading a document they are transcibing.

YOU DON'T DO THESE SORTS OF TASK'S ON YOUR MOBILE PHONE!
Considering that you are risking your own life and those of other people on the road by texting messaging while you drive, you shouldn't be doing that either(It's actually illegal here in Australia to be using your mobile while you drive), so in what circumstance does the user drastically have to shift they're field of vision away from they're mobile device while they are typing?
The answer is never, they will always be looking at what they are doing, unless they are walking or something like that, but these occurences are very very low, and do not justify tactile feedback as a neccessity, furthermore, most consumer products are unfortunately designed on an 80% rule, meaning that blind people very loosely if ever come into the design equation as they will not be the majority of buyers (Sad i know but that's the reality, we live in a consumer world hell bent on making money).
So if anyone could make a clear argument as to why you would need to take your eye's off what you are typing on your mobile, then I don't see a reason why tactile feedback is such a big issue.
As for double click issues with touch screens, this can actually be resolved through the software, developers can create algorithms which understand multi click occurences, and you need to realise that this touch screen display is actually a lot smarter then previous touchscreen displays, as it is multitouch, hence the screen can recognise at least 10 touchpoints at any given time.
Finally if you're going to make an argument and try to make comparisons make sure that your context is right, they're is no point comparing a mobile device keyboard to a computer keyboard, or a piano, they are vastly different experiences and will never feel the same, honestly try and compare a piano to a computer keyboard, you can't do it, as the context of use and context of environment is different.
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Travis Andren

17 years ago

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"how are the blind supposed to use the iPhone?" how are the blind supposed to use any phone? my cellphone doesn't have any braille or any kind of textural indications on it....

Actually, almost every phone with numerical buttons has a braille-like dot on the #5 button as a reference, kind of like how J and F have dots on a keyboard. My example was simply to point out that Apple doesn't actually care about the usability of their products, they seem to be driven more toward bling and away from universality.
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Greg B

17 years ago

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There's a reason why people still seek out old IBM clicky keyboards with buckling spring switches.

A tactile operation with minimal tactile feedback sounds alienating and cold, not a return to the 'natural' state Mr. Smith evokes.

Furthermore, I wonder what it would be like to type on a full-sized glass touchscreen. Probably horrible. The feedback from pushing physical buttons is inherent in the materials (you can't make me a plastic button/switch that has no innate 'feel' to it). The feedback from any touch-screen is contingent and arbitrary (could be a beep! or a word on a screen! who knows?). That doesn't get us in touch with the world, it distances us from it.
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olivier blanchard

17 years ago

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Users will adapt.

Hopefully, the iPhone will chirp or do something whenever a user successfully types a letter to give him/her feedback. Even if that isn't the case, users will get used to this interface as they have every other interface.
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JP

17 years ago

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"Or will gently touching and caressing a plastic screen provide enough tactile and visual feedback to make the iPhone as intimately coveted as the iPod?"

Don't you mean: "..Or will gently touching and caressing a high quality optical glass..."
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Chris

17 years ago

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Your "sex and pets" analogy is flaw. In both cases, there is still a tangible feedback to pushing the right button. The trick lies in finding the button, but we rely on the tangible feedback to confirm that we found it.

The real test is if you can find the right button with your eyes closed: pet, yes; sex, yes; mechanical keyboard, yes; iPhone virtual keyboard, NO.

Apple is hardly the first company to attempt a non-mechanical keyboard. The reason so many people are critical of it is because all virtual keyboards have failed as primary interface devices (why are there mechanical keyboard add-ons for PDAs?). As yet, there is nothing to suggest that Apple's virtual keyboard offers anything new to improve the virtual keyboarding experience (other than Apple's obsession with "one button" experiences)
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Stirrer

17 years ago

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The LG chocolate phone is a prime example of how this technology is difficult to use. Have a chat to any owner of a capacitive keypad. The buttons turn on at random, often you will press once but get a double click, cancel things with your palm... even crossing over the area with the switches without touching the plastic can set off some of the more reactive switches. I understand that apple is not using the same capacitive switches, but I think the general fat-fingered feedback will be the same
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J

17 years ago

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"how are the blind supposed to use the iPhone?" how are the blind supposed to use any phone? my cellphone doesn't have any braille or any kind of textural indications on it. the thought of a phone without a keypad is genius - its all part of this new interactive computing. like the microsoft surface concept - who doesn't want a touch screen coffee table instead of the traditional desktop? keep 'em coming - death to the keyboard!
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sven

17 years ago

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you forget one thing - this device is not office or productivity machine, this is mainly a browsing device. you browse your music, pictures, maps etc, and only occasionally enter some text.

for that, bigger screen has much bigger advantages than small buttons.
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Alex

17 years ago

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in responce to the "how would the blind use the iphone" I'd suggest a brail screen protector/overlay, should do the job?
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Matt

17 years ago

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Mr Chan says it: "as long as their is some strong feedback." Touchscreens do not offer this, and any effort to get round this is going to need to educate users - a tactile feedback response to a tactile gesture is more intuitive. And there's the problem of speed - acupuncture is not done at 30 points per minute, and neither is sex; when I want to take five minutes over dialling a phone number, though, I'll give you a call (it might take a while, though). Personally, I think divorcing tactile feedback from a tactile mechanism is not going to work well.

I've never owned an iPod, but the ones I've played with have a button. Which goes click, if I recall, when you press it. And you can feel it go click. That's the other half of the experience - while you're browsing, your thumb movements are light and floaty, but when you pounce on a song, then the choice is definite, and is definitely outlined by that tactile click.

Lumping sex, acupuncture, and phone use together is a deeply weird combination, and looks to me like a serious category error. It's like saying we should have the same sort of buttons on a phone as we do on a shirt.
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T.J. Thomas

17 years ago

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I know many pianists and musicians who would take issue with the suggestion that they are merely mapping information like some kid texting on the bus. The tonal subtleties and nuance achievable through trained hands on ivory or gut have brought many to heights of ecstasy that rival the world's great ummm...cat petters.

It seems the success of the buttonless keypad will be dependent upon its ability to deliver fast and accurate "strokes" with reliable feedback to the user. Unless there is a Theremin app in the works, I don't expect to be impressed anytime soon by anyones iPhone stroking.
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jomy

17 years ago

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"how are the blind supposed to use the iPhone?"

What? How are the blind supposed to drive a Hummer?

Seriously, they should just wait for the iPhone shuffle. Every product isn't right for everybody.
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Rob

17 years ago

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I have a Treo, and you know what? Sometimes I press a key, think I feel it click, yet that tactile feedback incorrectly has told me the phone registered the press of the button, but it has not. I find dialing with the LCD screen is usually easier than dialing with the tiny mechanical keys. And I agree with a commenter above, we do look at our devices as we type, even if it's just the screen to confirm our entry (much like when typing on a computer). The exception might be for those who text while driving.

To those who INSIST a physical keyboard is necessarily superior due to the tactile response have NO CLUE if Apple has come up with a system that works as well or better. No Clue! Go ahead and be skeptical of Apple's assertion that the keyboard works well, but don't be COCKY in your convictions that nothing can replace the existing tiny mechanical keyboards we currently deal with. Wait until you've had a chance to actually see what Apple has come up with. It should be fairly easy to judge within a few days of use how this new virtual keyboard stacks up against existing keyboards. At that point, I will accept your cocky declarations about the superiority of one keyboard over another. But until then, don't judge what you don't yet know. To do so is unscientific and closed-minded, it doesn't allow for evidence to alter your pre-existing opinion (which is based on a guess). The success or failure of the iPhone may well ride on the ease of text-entry, and there's no reason to believe Apple isn't fully aware of this.
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Greg Hinzmann

17 years ago

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What I find interesting is that I recall all sorts of questions being raised about how small the keys were on the original BlackBerry models and how they were way smaller than any "ergonomics expert" would say was usable. Error rates and frustration would be high. The fact is that we humans are extremely adaptable to a variety of conditions and modes of working. If the benefit is there, we readily overcome less than ideal conditions. Regarding the iPhone, if Steve Jobs and the rest of the Apple team have been using the device and are happy with it, chances are it's pretty good. Yes, there will be a learning curve. Yes it will require some additional attention. But muscle memory will set in and it will become easier to use than you think. And the benefits of having that big screen will make the tradeoff worthwhile just as having access to email made the tiny BlackBerry keypad worth the effort. (And in a few years we will have haptic interfaces and it will be a moot point.)
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noo

17 years ago

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what crap! Tactility is what we know, use, breath...not touch, or petting...sure it sounds sexy, until you use it...why dont we have touch keyboards, piano keys, etc....buttons rule. Iphone will be great cause apple fanatics will have one more thing to brag about even if it isnt really that much better. apple is a marketing company...they rock at it, but when it comes to something as difficult as a phone...you have to listen to the crowds.
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Lulu

17 years ago

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Pretty interesting. Hard to imagine satisfaction from a keyboardless keyboard.
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Travis Andren

17 years ago

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The security in a keyboard is found merely through knowing that you have pushed the key that you intended to. Touching a flat screen doesn't return any feedback that has been programmed into the human psyche. There are countless hours spent on numerous products researching the exact feeling that the customer gets when pushing a button, turning a knob, or adjusting a dial. For Apple to try to redefine the importance of these processes is simply ludacris; all they seem to be doing is trying to make the next product flashier than the last. If you really want to make an innovative product, try to find a way for it to accommodate all users, after all, how are the blind supposed to use the iPhone?
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jay

17 years ago

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Everyone who has ever used a mobile device with a full qwerty keyboard will tell you that the experience is bollocks! so it doesn't matter if you make it a touchscreen or a physical button, users will always have to look at the key's to know where they are, a qwerty keyboard on a computer compared to a qwerty keyboard on a small device is a very different interactive experience, the buttons on a computer keyboard are much bigger, you use all your finger's and thumbs to navigate a computer keyboard, and typing is a lot quicker.

Error rates on qwerty keyboards on mobile devices are pretty high because of the size of the buttons.
If your going to compare the iPhone to any other phone then you need to compare the iPhone to other SmartPhones that also have full qwerty keyboards, and i can assure you that the iPhone does a similar job if not a better job.
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Jacob

17 years ago

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Yes, the iPod may be superior thanks to its "delicate thumb petting" controls, but let us not forget that Apple moved quickly from third to fourth generation iPods to get back to "tactile feedback."

After a few months of use with any phone (with buttons), most users are able to do a variety of things without looking at the device at all. Will this ever be possible with without so-called "tactile feedback"? I'm not sure it will be, and I say that as someone who hopes the iPhone succeeds.
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