Natural thumb zone on smartphone with one-handed interaction: Effects of thumb length and screen size

Hyo Chang Kim; Yong Gu Ji

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-96071-5_50

Natural thumb zone on smartphone with one-handed interaction: Effects of thumb length and screen size

Hyo Chang Kim, Yong Gu Ji

Department of Industrial Engineering

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Abstract

This study aimed at investigating natural thumb zone of the user in smartphone touchscreen with one-handed grip. The subjects were divided into three groups according to their thumb lengths: small, medium, large. Experiments were carried out using three smartphones of different sizes: 4.7 in., 5.1 in., 5.2 in. The natural thumb zone of each group was analyzed using heat-map method. In large group, the thumb zone occupied more than 50% of the touch screen, while small and medium groups occupied only about 30% in all smartphones of different sizes. Compare to other groups, the thumb zone ratio of the small group in 5.2 in. smartphone was found greatly reduced. The lowermost region and the upper-left region of the smartphone touchscreen are not commonly included in natural thumb zone, regardless of the thumb-length groups. The results of this study could be used for designing new mobile device to enhance the usability of one-handed interaction; small devices with a touch screen as well.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 20th Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA 2018) - Volume VII
Subtitle of host publication	Ergonomics in Design, Design for All, Activity Theories for Work Analysis and Design, Affective Design
Editors	Sebastiano Bagnara, Riccardo Tartaglia, Sara Albolino, Thomas Alexander, Yushi Fujita
Publisher	Springer Verlag
Pages	471-477
Number of pages	7
ISBN (Print)	9783319960708
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96071-5_50
Publication status	Published - 2019 Jan 1
Event	20th Congress of the International Ergonomics Association, IEA 2018 - Florence, Italy Duration: 2018 Aug 26 → 2018 Aug 30

Publication series

Name	Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing
Volume	824
ISSN (Print)	2194-5357

Other

Other	20th Congress of the International Ergonomics Association, IEA 2018
Country	Italy
City	Florence
Period	18/8/26 → 18/8/30

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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Control and Systems Engineering
Computer Science(all)

Cite this

Kim, H. C., & Ji, Y. G. (2019). Natural thumb zone on smartphone with one-handed interaction: Effects of thumb length and screen size. In S. Bagnara, R. Tartaglia, S. Albolino, T. Alexander, & Y. Fujita (Eds.), Proceedings of the 20th Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA 2018) - Volume VII: Ergonomics in Design, Design for All, Activity Theories for Work Analysis and Design, Affective Design (pp. 471-477). (Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing; Vol. 824). Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96071-5_50

Kim, Hyo Chang ; Ji, Yong Gu. / Natural thumb zone on smartphone with one-handed interaction : Effects of thumb length and screen size. Proceedings of the 20th Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA 2018) - Volume VII: Ergonomics in Design, Design for All, Activity Theories for Work Analysis and Design, Affective Design. editor / Sebastiano Bagnara ; Riccardo Tartaglia ; Sara Albolino ; Thomas Alexander ; Yushi Fujita. Springer Verlag, 2019. pp. 471-477 (Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing).

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abstract = "This study aimed at investigating natural thumb zone of the user in smartphone touchscreen with one-handed grip. The subjects were divided into three groups according to their thumb lengths: small, medium, large. Experiments were carried out using three smartphones of different sizes: 4.7 in., 5.1 in., 5.2 in. The natural thumb zone of each group was analyzed using heat-map method. In large group, the thumb zone occupied more than 50% of the touch screen, while small and medium groups occupied only about 30% in all smartphones of different sizes. Compare to other groups, the thumb zone ratio of the small group in 5.2 in. smartphone was found greatly reduced. The lowermost region and the upper-left region of the smartphone touchscreen are not commonly included in natural thumb zone, regardless of the thumb-length groups. The results of this study could be used for designing new mobile device to enhance the usability of one-handed interaction; small devices with a touch screen as well.",

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Kim, HC & Ji, YG 2019, Natural thumb zone on smartphone with one-handed interaction: Effects of thumb length and screen size. in S Bagnara, R Tartaglia, S Albolino, T Alexander & Y Fujita (eds), Proceedings of the 20th Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA 2018) - Volume VII: Ergonomics in Design, Design for All, Activity Theories for Work Analysis and Design, Affective Design. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol. 824, Springer Verlag, pp. 471-477, 20th Congress of the International Ergonomics Association, IEA 2018, Florence, Italy, 18/8/26. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96071-5_50

Natural thumb zone on smartphone with one-handed interaction : Effects of thumb length and screen size. / Kim, Hyo Chang; Ji, Yong Gu.

Proceedings of the 20th Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA 2018) - Volume VII: Ergonomics in Design, Design for All, Activity Theories for Work Analysis and Design, Affective Design. ed. / Sebastiano Bagnara; Riccardo Tartaglia; Sara Albolino; Thomas Alexander; Yushi Fujita. Springer Verlag, 2019. p. 471-477 (Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing; Vol. 824).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

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Kim HC, Ji YG. Natural thumb zone on smartphone with one-handed interaction: Effects of thumb length and screen size. In Bagnara S, Tartaglia R, Albolino S, Alexander T, Fujita Y, editors, Proceedings of the 20th Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA 2018) - Volume VII: Ergonomics in Design, Design for All, Activity Theories for Work Analysis and Design, Affective Design. Springer Verlag. 2019. p. 471-477. (Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96071-5_50

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10.1007/978-3-319-96071-5_50