A Kiss Is Just a Kiss; A Sigh Is
Just a Deselection: A Review of
Designing Gestural Interfaces
Carla Diana
Smart Design | carla@carladiana.com
For many of us involved in the design of technological products, the idea of creating gestural interfaces
has left us feeling like kids in a candy store—
staring inside with noses and palms pressed up against
the glass, our mouths watering in anticipation for
the place to open. Finally, our time has come, and
we have reached an era in which a confluence of
factors such as widespread broadband, wireless
access, and affordable electronics has culminated
in our ability to realistically design all those truly
interactive things we have wanted to create for so
long but could never quite make happen. Products
that were once fantasy objects, such as keyless
locks, path-mapping sneakers, and weather-predict-ing umbrellas, are now not only within the realm of
possibility, but they actually exist.
With new technologies allowing for the implementation of input gestures that were previously
impossible, we necessarily begin many projects
by exploring uncharted territory. Unlike more
traditional disciplines like graphic design or architecture, interaction design lacks a rich history of
documented examples or a well-honed process to
build upon. Dan Saffer’s Designing Gestural Interfaces:
Touchscreens and Interactive Devices is a testament
to the fact that tangible, interactive interfaces
that move beyond the mouse and keyboard have
become an important part of product design. The
book provides an interesting, if incomplete, look at
how the use of gesture in product design practice
has been evolving. A solid primer that covers a host
of related topics such as kinesiology, sensors, ergonomics, and physical computing, Designing Gestural
Interfaces can provide a healthy jump start to any
project in which physical inputs correlate to digital
information, as long as one does not rely on it past
the early stages of domain research. Though it does
provide a good deal of reference material regarding
© 2008 Dan Saffer. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
physical input situations, development processes,
and experimental prototyping techniques, it does
not explore more complex considerations, such as
the synthesis of varied input data or the social and
cultural significance of gestural expression.
In his book Saffer caters to the mind-set of the
pioneer and helps us embrace our new challenges
by providing a vast array of examples. In Chapters 3
and 4, he explores design patterns for touchscreens
and interactive surfaces such as “tap to open,”
“spin to scroll,” and “flick to nudge,” as well as patterns for free-form activation gestures like “shake,”
“wave,” and “point.” These gestures are a more
engaging than the nearly motionless mouse click
that has been our working constraint for the past
decade, and Saffer presents them in an organized
and practical way. Though sometimes inconsistent
in quality, each entry is refreshingly visual, show-
