Chai

Categorising Handhelds based on actions & interface complexity

  • 19 Mar 2024
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  • 3 min read

[ This Blog is Under Construction … ]

This blog is related to DICE blog and it is recommended to read it before reading this blog.

1. Introduction

When I starting to wonder which topics my master’s thesis should be, I starting to be more and more interested in handheld devices, but not the most smartphones but the most specialized, proffesional handheld devices. Tangibility of those devices make my curiosity bigger.

Other questions florish, like how they create those physical layouts? How can designers manage to pack such a variety of functionalities into less than a dozen of Interaction Elements?

Before starting the categorisation of handheld devices, I found that it will be important to differentiate between simple and complex actions and interfaces. Which I develop SASI, SACI, CASI, CACI, which I will further explain.

2. Actions

The way the user interact with an Interaction Element can vary greatly in its way to interact, which can be categorized in dimensions, shown in my blog DICE. The most used simple action is pushing a button, from there they are a dozens of actions like rotational, levers. A complex action include the use of multiple fingers, having multiple types of interaction elements or control elements in varying directions.

3. Interfaces

Complexity of the interface

4. Complexity Categorization

4.1 SASI

[…make a skecthed of each of them]

SASI is the acronym for Simple Actions within a Simple Interface are the simplest device, both from the complexity of the Interaction Element usage and the number of interactions. Some examples are the garage remote and fan remote.

  1. Garage door remote - 2 buttons
  2. Tamagotchi - 3 buttons
  3. My First Sony Walkman - 4 buttons

4.2 SACI

SACI, or Simple Actions within a Complex Interface, meaning it has more control elements, buttons in which only have one option, which, a really easy to understand. Take the computer keyboard as an example of SACI, a myriad of buttons formed a keyboard, all the keys have the same type of interaction, you press and it clicks.

  1. Computers Keyboards
  2. Traditional TV, car, AC remotes
  3. Traditional piano
  4. Modern Sony Walkman
  5. Braun Calculator: it is so simple action that it even have separate buttons for turning it on and off, btw an interesting short video of Dieter Rams - 27 buttons = 25buttons + on button + off button

4.3 CASI

CASI is Complex Actions within a Simple Interface. Typically encountered in compact and sophisticated devices, such as small multimedia devices. even require users to engage with multiple controls simultaneously or sequentially.

A watch is a good example for a CASI device, it usually only have a crown, which embeds a high complex IE, it can adjust the hands of the watch be pulling it out them rotating it, some watches have multiple levels of pulling it out for its multiple watch complications like day and date.

4.4 CACI

And last, CACI is Complex Actions within a Complex Interface.

mode dials on cameras “simplify” the complexity in navigating such interfaces.

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