Mobile interaction design : is it time for a universal gestural design system?

Interaction design in the last 12 years has transitioned to the small screen. Portable devices such as touch screen mobile phones have become the new personal computer. With this new touch screen technology, gestures have risen as the dominant interaction for mobile devices. Gestures will be the branch of interaction design this thesis will focus on as it is the most relevant to subject of portable touch screens. The purpose of this thesis is to determine through theory and a quantitative survey, if it is possible to have a universal gestural design system. The goal is to determine if the end users would benefit from universal gestures when using their touch screen devices. The theoretical part of the study focuses on User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) principles along with the interaction design ideas. Based on the replies of the survey and mirroring it to the theory of UX and UI principles as well an interaction design, the result of the study is that universal gestural design system would be better for the end users. The theory of UI states through five dimensions of interaction design, that some gestures and interactions are far more learnable, memorable and rewarding for users than others. According to the survey only eight percent of the survey respondents know all possible gestures of their Operating Systems and many feel tutorials are needed to help to learn the gestures. The majority of participants owned multiple touch screen devices from different manufacturers. Even though the end user might benefit from the universal gestural design systems within touch screen devices, it is still unlikely that it will happen due the nature of competition in the market between different operating systems