Now that smartphones and tablets are becoming so popular, enterprises are beginning to demand applications that use touch-based interfaces. “The whole idea of touch as an interface mechanism is taking off massively in these enterprises,” says Daniel Dura of software development firm Dedo.
But building touch-based apps can be tricky for developers who are used to traditional keyboard and mouse input methods. “What most people don’t understand is the complexity of what a user is going to expect,” says Dura. “The best thing is to test the interaction.”
Developers also need to be aware that touch controls must be much larger than mouse controls. According to developer Billy Hollis, touch controls need to be about twice the size of those you would use in a mouse interface, and they can’t be too close to each other.
