Comments on: Garmin phone should have its ‘answer’ and ‘ignore’ buttons switched

By: Pim

Pim — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 19:18:00 +0000

Actually -from an interface design perspective - it’s a proper design for right-handed folks. Here’s why:

‘Older’ cell phones are quite slim (WxHxD, relatively small width) whick makes for the position of your hand (right, left, whatever) to be quite vertical: as an extension of your wrist.

New(er) smartphones are, for the larger screens to be integrated, relatively wide (quite large width), more of a square shape rather than a beam (as the ’slim’ ones were). To use it, you now need to use both hands OR you’ll rotate your wrist, so to say at an (almost) 90 degree angle. Because of the increased width, the distance in which BOTH ignore and answer were placed on ‘old’ phones more or less equals the width of half of the screen of these all-touch smartphone(s). Add to that you’ll probably let it drop as well when ignore and answer are switched (since your other four fingers get quite cramped and might slip), and you can (at least I do) conclude it’s not as unthoughtfull you thougt it was.

It is cognitively unnatural though, because we’re ‘conditioned’ for answer to be situated as the left button and ignore as the right one (through extensive use of cellphones, this is a sort of mapping we’re used to, just because layouts of nearly all cellphones were set-up like that).The same problem occurs with Internet Explorer 7 - when visiting an ‘unsafe’ site you need to hit a RED button with a CROSS to continue and visit and a GREEN one to leave the site (but it’s not like that’s really related to the above, anyway).

By: John

John — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 22:27:48 +0000

I would rather have an easier to access ignore button. A half second of rotating my thumb from left to right is enough to decide if I really want to talk to that person.

By: dwalk51

dwalk51 — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 02:40:40 +0000

Ok here’s a thought;
The phone should detect which hand it’s being held in, and switch the layout accordingly! That way, left hand gets the right side of the screen for ‘Answer’, and right hand gets the left side of the screen for ‘Answer’!
OMG. Apple could totally do that. Mebbe garmin too if this phone is as decent as it sounds.

By: Curtis

Curtis — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 00:57:51 +0000

I happen to think that the Nuvifone is very well designed in terms of its’ ergonomics. The button placement is certainly a non-issue - but for clarity…

Hold phone in left hand, touch screen with right hand, answer button is closest to right hand. Hence, correct design.

Nicholas - perhaps you should apply your “tipsy” analysis to the iPhone as it has many design flaws which can and should be pointed out for any given journal opinion. One that’s obvious, the Nuvifone CLEARLY has superior GPS capabilities than the iPhone, and maybe even most cell phones currently on the market.

By: Avery

Avery — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 00:09:33 +0000

Even though I am right-handed, I pretty much use my phone in my left hand.

By: John Biggs

John Biggs — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 15:25:13 +0000

He is tipsy more often, James

By: James Talvy

James Talvy — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 14:48:01 +0000

You are a brilliant brilliant man…. you should be tipsy more often so that we may benefit from the fountain of glorious theories within you.

By: dwalk51

dwalk51 — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 12:47:31 +0000

Well Garmin has always been crazy leftists.

By: Devin Coldewey

Devin Coldewey — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 04:59:16 +0000

I think it’s fine the way it is.

And I know a girl named Kim Arnold… what the hell why is she calling that fake phone

By: Johnal

Johnal — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 23:16:08 +0000

Just to clarify… I used the term “almighty” in a sarcastic sense. I certainly don’t care for the current iphone, but I found it amusing that an article could be written solely about a “flaw” found in a new phone… yet with the same problem present in one of the most publicized phones of the decade, it was never brought up before.

From this we should conclude that it doesn’t matter…and who cares anyway?

By: John Eddy

John Eddy — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 22:59:00 +0000

Maybe because the people who care didn’t notice?

I never noticed on the iPhone, but I never cared about the iPhone. I definitely wouldn’t label it as ‘almighty’ unless you wanted to put the word ‘waste’ after it.

By: Johnal

Johnal — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 22:56:36 +0000

Finally found a picture of the iphone’s “Answer” and “Decline” screen. As suspected… the layout is exactly the same as the Garmin phone above. Perhaps it’s only a problem when it’s on any other phone besides the almighty iphone.

http://images.appleinsider.com/events/mw07/iphone/iphone-proto-mw-10.jpg

By: Trae Dorn

Trae Dorn — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:04:23 +0000

I could be wrong, but I think the iPhone puts them listed in a single column.

By: Johnal

Johnal — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:00:00 +0000

Sorry if i’m mistaken, but isn’t the iPhone setup exactly the same way? If it is…i can’t help but wonder why this wasn’t mentioned as an issue before…

By: Trae Dorn

Trae Dorn — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:34:49 +0000

Or you could, and I know this is crazy sounding, use your *other hand* to press the button.
.
I’m just saying.

By: JJ

JJ — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:14:40 +0000

Left handed cellphone. Hmm.

That’s like a left handed hammer.

By: John Eddy

John Eddy — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 18:52:13 +0000

If it’s a properly designed OS, it should let you swap them (and not in a global Left Hand/Right Hand setting). =)