Discussions

All the hype around touch-displays is fascinating to me.  The technology has been there for years, but it's fair to say that the touch-based display really only started its meteoric rise when Apple made the interface and interaction more user centric. And as users flocked to Apple, so did the glut of companies—trying to either imitate or join in on the touch-based display pie. Touch based displays (and interactions) are the future, some predict.  But in my opinion they are dead wrong. They are in our future, just not "The Future".
 
There are two key factors that determine how well a user-interface works: its design and the context in which it is used.  Touch technology does not immediately nor magically solve these. Despite what some might want us to think, it is not a silver bullet. It can't be applied to make things instantly more user-friendly and intuitive.
 
That touch-display can be cool is indisputable. But it also means that there’s a great deal of attention being placed on that alone—the cool factor of the technology—rather than on the actual person using it! And, I'm afraid that this what's happening with touch-interfaces right now. Just look at the flow of 3rd-rate touch phones flooding the market. Anyone can do it, but I have way too many fingers to count those who do it well. It is undeniable that programmable touch interfaces can be very powerful and versatile: you could have any keyboard layout, in any languages with any size of keys that fit your display surface - and these are just a few of millions of things that we can do with this technology. However, it also have its drawbacks: Touch display removes the tactile feel, and haptic display simply cannot compensate enough for that. I mean, we've all seen the superb user interface from Minority Report. It was so cool. But, imagine gesticulating for 8 hours at the office every day to move those display windows, sort your files or copy files... it's much less glamorous all the sudden, huh?
 
A great interface experience is about much more than the interface. It’s about the user experience.  Start with the context in which the product will be used, follow with a design aimed at addressing both requirements and challenges generated by the context, and use available technology to implement. But instead, what we’re seeing is a “cool factor” driven design—little to no context needed just as long as it speaks to today’s customers fad.  And there are a lot of them out there and even more to come.
 
I believe this approached is doomed for failure. Once a glamorous promise, touch-display products will be limping at best and we’ll see lots of rejects clearing the shelves. And this begs the question. Are we be witnessing what could easily become a very large “ touch-display bubble”?