Instrument touchscreen menu design

When creating a touchpad menu, functionality and target audience are taken into account, which allows us to offer the most understandable and fastest path from the beginning of the interaction to the result. The ideal touch menu is a reasonable balance of maximum efficiency and stylish implementation.

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Improving products or creating new devices requires a professional approach to the development of touch control menus .

It is the touch screen that is more a sign of the perfection of gadgets, offering the most convenient and logical interaction. And, of course, it is the design of the touch screen menu that deserves special attention.

User interface design, however, is not about pretty fonts and flashy visuals. Rather, this aspect is of somewhat secondary importance. Even the coolest gadget with an incomprehensible or overloaded menu will force the consumer to take extra steps and this will only play into the hands of competitors .

Therefore, analytical work is in the first place when developing a touchscreen menu design.

To create an optimal structure for the touch screen of devices, you need to carefully study the target audience , find out its needs and features of interaction with the product, and anticipate options and scenarios for achieving your goals.

Preparing the menu UI/UX design is determining the location of the main and secondary elements, the order in which the screens open and the number of touches to the touch panel to go through the desired path to solve the problem. This is the key to convenient work with the device for the maximum use of its functionality, and, as a result, a high user rating and market demand .

The visual in the development of menu design is also the most important and should work for the same goals – with the help of contrasts, color and visual accents, labels and other design methods, highlight the main and secondary elements , indicate a logical chain of actions, help in obtaining the result in the shortest way.

Depending on the device, the design of the touch screen will differ . Touchscreen today management is found in addition to IT products (tablets, phones, laptops, PCs, game consoles) are almost in all modern devices (bank terminals, information stands, on-board and automobile control panels, control systems in trade, industry and medical equipment, household appliances – stoves, ovens, microwave ovens, dishwashers, coffee machines, TVs, etc. .) and especially in market news.

Of course , the design of the phone sensor menu and the design of the ATM menu or the design of the touch control of medical equipment will differ in many ways:

structure;
the size of labels, icons and fonts;
design, etc.

You can find a large number of touchscreen menu templates on the Internet . BUT! Only an individual approach to the development of navigation architecture and interface design will give a good commercial result .

When creating a touch panel menu , be sure to consider the following aspects :

– what tasks the device can solve ( what it is made for );

– who will use this device ( for whom it is made);

– how to offer the most understandable and fastest way from the beginning of the interaction to getting the result.

From the correct design of the touch menu directly depends on the efficiency of the presentation of information and the completeness of the use of the entire range of functions.

Menu interface design work includes:

Studying the functionality of the device.
Analysis of the work of competitors .
Study and analysis of target audience and user experience .
Development of a menu hierarchy and interaction structure – step-by-step navigation from the beginning of work to the solution of all possible tasks.
Attention system status and failure elements.
Re-testing for user friendliness.

The ideal touch menu in the end is a reasonable balance of maximum efficiency and stylish implementation.

Convenient navigation of touch instrument panels should be created taking into account all UX / UI aspects :

one. The main thing is efficiency. Studying the full functionality of the device will help to understand the purpose of use and the end point of the user during operation.

2. Intuitive and logical navigation. A professional analysis of the target audience will allow you to develop optimal routes for interacting with the device, minimizing the number of steps to achieve a result.

3. Correct priorities and accents . The ability to identify key moments of interaction will lead to a reasonable menu hierarchy, build a structure that will help the user, and not distract him with unnecessary actions and features.

4. Thoughtful adaptability. The use of modern software and a professional approach at the stage of menu IT development will provide convenient logic designed for each device – from large-scale monitors to tablets, watches and miniature gadgets.

5. Uniqueness of the interface . An effective touch menu is also the brightness and recognition of the design, the addition of special features that distinguish the product.

Do you want a unique and really useful product for your target audience? Just order the touchscreen menu design development on the KLONA website !

Whatever cool touchscreen navigation ideas you come up with, the first thing you need to do is keep in mind the convenience for the user (at the same time for a specific user – from your target audience). Fuzzy navigation, overloaded screen, inconvenient location – all this can play a cruel joke even with the most sophisticated technical developments, repelling the buyer already at the stage of the first acquaintance.

1) Do not try to show EVERYTHING and AT ONCE . Mega menus overload perception. Learn to determine the main thing by building a logical chain of consumer relationship with your device.

2) ALWAYS give the user a chance to choose the path, find the desired element, cancel or change their mind – just add the items RETURN, TO THE MAIN (HOME) and, if necessary, a search box on each page.

3) Consider the ORDER of navigation positions , displaying the necessary transitions to the first and last positions .

4) Use SCROLLING elements wisely by pinning menus in advance to support constant interaction .

5) Make the menu as CLEAR as possible – each element should inform the user about the upcoming action. To do this, in addition to the inscriptions, you can use generally accepted or unique icons, pictures, labels.

Features of interface development for touch devices

When size matters

There is a specific ISO 9241-9 standard that specifies the size of the contact target. It is 22 mm or 95 percentile – equal to the width of the phalanx of a man’s finger nail . This refers to the middle or index finger, and in practice, many control mobile devices with their thumbs.

In any case, everyone’s fingers are different and it is impossible to develop a button size that would be universal for everyone according to this principle.

Therefore, for the operation of the touch screen , only the contact of the centroid , the geometric center of the fingertip, is taken into account.

As a result, we return to the original thesis – large buttons are convenient, but … without fanaticism. A button that is too large can raise doubts in the area of clickability, and this is already a negative user experience and lost time for interaction.

Three Key Points in Designing Touch Targets

Designing the touch button interface you need to rely on three pillars:

visible targets;
touch targets;
intersection of contact zones.

The visible target (what we see) is usually represented as a graphic element , an icon, a text link. It should attract attention and invite to interaction . Labels should be clear, easy to understand, and responsive to user requests.

This element must be active and have the entire clickable area , including borders, dividers, pointers.

The target of a touch (interaction point) is the immediate area of the screen that provides a specific action when you click on it. All touches outside the target zone will not activate the desired action.

At the same time, the external design of this zone forms in the user a corresponding perception of its boundaries and dimensions.

Going back to the above – if the user might think that the entire cell is active, and not just the label in the center of it – make the entire cell clickable.

Crossing touch zones is a mistake that can lead to serious consequences . Indeed, instead of activating one goal, the user can launch a completely opposite action.

The simplest example is the replacement of one letter in the phone with another, located nearby and having a common intersection zone. Here the error is not so big, but there may be quite important functions in the dangerous neighborhood.

The optimal center-to-center distance is not less than 10-8 mm .

By the way, you need to foresee what can happen when the user still misses the target – for this there must be an option to cancel or double protection with a confirmation request (in case of a high price of an error).

If your gadget is suitable for a younger target audience – among the advanced users – then you can get confused and various alternative ways to activate an action or navigation elements.

Now swipes are used to zoom, hold, scroll, or double tap for specific actions.

These methods significantly save time for solving the problem and provide tactile control of the control. Some of them have already become recognizable (for likes on social networks, etc.), but their use should still be treated with caution , taking into account the features of the functionality, design of the device and, most importantly, the portrait of the target audience .

The main task when creating a touchscreen menu is to attract the user’s attention , indicating what exactly is the uniqueness of the gadget and what features it hides.

Why menu development should be entrusted to KLONA

13 years of experience in the market ( see portfolio )
international status of the company, membership in the group koloro.group
expert TOP team working on the project from A to Z
short lead times (due to the availability of highly qualified specialists in each area)
development control at all stages
full interaction with the customer