Gestures often have different meanings in different cultures. Do these differences also exist when using a multi-touch interface such as the iPhone? To answer this question, the International Usability Partners (IUP) carried out a study with 340 people in nine countries. This study can be downloaded at prezi.com.
Actions like "zooming in" tested
For the study, the worldwide network defined 28 established actions such as "scrolling down" or "zooming in". Test object was a cell phone-like prototype simulating a mobile multi-touch device. Before and after screens explained the context of the action. The test respondents had to solve different tasks, finding gestures to start specific actions.
More symbolic gestures used in China
The analysis of the used 9,520 gestures showed that there were no cultural differences in operating multi-touch interfaces by gestures. The only exception was: Chinese people use symbolic gestures significantly more often, e.g. to delete an object, 40% of the Chinese test respondents drew an "X" on the corresponding object. This gesture was not used that often in any other country. This difference may be explained by the unique Chinese writing system.
Hardly any differences between experts and novices detected
The study did not reveal any big differences between touch screen experts and inexperienced users. Only for actions like "zooming in" and "zooming out", the experts tended to use the same gestures as opposed to novices who show less agreement in their use of gestures. Here, the test respondents mainly used the pinch and spread gesture used for zooming in and out on the iPhone. The difference between experienced and inexperienced users may therefore result from the different experiences in operating multi-touch products.
Gesture set for multi-touch devices introduced
Based on these findings, the IUP developed a gesture set recommending one internationally understandable gesture per tested action. Currently, the gesture set is being evaluated in a follow-up study in all nine countries among a large sample size. The gesture set is supposed to support interface designers in the design of multi-touch interfaces used internationally.
The International Usability Partners
The International Usability Partners (IUP) are an established network of independent usability companies. The twelve partners support companies in user-friendly product design in more than 30 countries on all five continents, guaranteeing high-quality services and fast and efficient project management. User Interface Design GmbH (UID) founded the IUP in 2005.
