Gestural Interfaces a Step Backwards in Usability

http://jnd.org/dn.mss/gestural_interfaces_a_step_backwards_in_usability_6.html

Title: Gestural Interfaces: A Step Backwards In Usability

This article speaks of the new problems that have arrived with the addition of gestural interfaces. With any new technology there is a learning curve for usability and design. These gestural interfaces are no different. Norman points out some of the problems are ambiguity and a lack of consistency between applications. There are no current standards set for these new technologies and designers have failed at using some of the "best practice" principles for design. Another problem stated in the article was reliability. The interfaces have had problem with accidental selections in menus which are a big problem for usability.

I chose this article because I think that gestural interfaces are the big thing in technology right now and I wonder where it will take us. So far I think this technology is somewhat unnecessary and mostly for entertainment. I haven't seen many real world applications for it yet. Maybe I am just thinking too small. I see what Norman is talking about in the article. The interfaces are not always very intuitive and sometimes seem very foreign. Also I constantly select things accidentlly on my touch screen phone. It is a real pain to go back and forth through the menu system because my finger halfway touched the wrong thing. Or didn't touch the wrong thing but the interface thought I did. A lot of work still needs to be done to increase usability in our devices.