![]() ![]() This kind of interface is the one that we are most familiar with since smartphones and touch screen devices have established their role in our daily routine. Touch interfaces: don’t lean on… my interface! ![]() A less uncomfortable from a user perspective solution is to take advantage of dwell-time based input and focal fixation: the command is activated if the user has been gazing a well-defined element of the interface a little bit longer than a causal fixation lasts.Ī few studies about this domain have been conducted by University researchers in Human-Computer Interaction and this is saying something about how this kind of thing, in real life, is not as straightforward as in science fiction movies and tv-series. The solution to avoid the Midas Touch effect, here, is to use the gaze as a pointing device to select an interface element and trigger the command by an explicit movement of the eye or maybe a few blinks. Jacob in Advanced interface design and virtual environments raise the problem in the development of eye-gazed based interfaces, when it comes to telling an intentional fixation of the interface element for activating a function from an accidental one that should produce no effect. It’s a few years since eye movement-based user interfaces have found their application in healthcare, science, and other kinds of industry. Eye-gaze interfaces: intentional fixation or casual gaze? I hope my reflections will inspire other UX designers to think over this topic and, maybe, go deeper into this topic. I made a quick list of the main contexts where all UX designers must be aware of the Midas Touch problem while designing their systems and interactions. The more we try to imagine (and design) fancy gestural interactions, maybe inspired by Tom Cruise in Minority Report, or try to find new ways to increase the naturalness of interaction with digital systems the more we are prone to run into the Midas Touch problem. This may sound like the most common expression of the Midas Touch phenomenon in interface design and so it is, actually, but the more we push our design beyond the borders of the physical interface the more the Midas Touch effect implications become fascinating. Lockscreen shortcut for flashlight activation on my iPhone XR But you know… a distracted user is not as sensitive as the main character in The Princess and the Pea fairy tale. It happens to me all the time and I hang around with the Flashlight on for an indefinite time, despite the set up of the Haptic Touch that should make me realize by a small vibration when the light turns on. I always long-press on the Flashlight icon on the iPhone lock screen accidentally. The most direct example that makes me think of Midas is about all the times that, unintentionally, I switch on the flashlight of my iPhone by just holding it in my hand (yes, I keep it in my hand all along while I’m out and walk… unless I need to keep my hands free for some reason). It’s a problem related to UI when we interact with a physical device and some commands are accidentally activated, but it can also be related to a system when the way it detects user’s voluntary commands and intentions to activate an interaction or pursue a goal is not accurate and reliable. The Midas Touch effect in UX design is something to make sure to avoid when designing an input interface, especially when they are based on gestures that can be easily performed with no intention. What’s the connection between Midas golden touch power and UX design, then? His wish was fulfilled, but, soon, he realized that he couldn’t touch food or drink and even his daughter without turning them into gold. Midas asked that everything he touched would turn into gold. ![]() King Midas is popular because Dionysus granted him whatever he would ask for as a reward for his hospitality. I’ve always been fascinated by Latin and Greek myths, so when I came across the reference to King Midas, this name chimed quite heavy with me. Years ago, I was studying interaction techniques for my Specialization in Interaction Design and I came across a piece of advice: while designing my prototype of a gestural interaction I had to make sure to avoid The Midas Touch problem. ![]()
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