Tactile effect design and evaluation for virtual buttons on a mobile device touchscreen

Abstract

In this paper, we present the design of a large number (72) of tactile stimuli for the confirmation feedback of virtual button presses on the mobile device touchscreen. Two industry standard variable-reluctance actuators (enhanced voice-coil actuators with added mass for stronger output) were used in the study. The design parameters of an input were amplitude, duration, carrier signal, envelope function, and actuator. Eighteen participants evaluated the modeled patterns with the criteria of similarity to physical buttons and user preference. An adjective rating task was also accompanied to assess the subjective quality of the designed tactile effects. Experimental results unveiled several important guidelines for designing realistic and favorable button-click tactile feedback. The findings of this paper have implications for improving the usability of user interface components displayed on a touchscreen by means of haptic feedback. © 2011 ACM.