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Larasby Kotek

Principle 2 of 4

Usability

Kotek is used at arm's length, in landscape, by someone standing over a gangsa holding a mallet. Every decision starts there: the target has to be easy to hit, the feedback has to be immediate, and the guidance has to be on the instrument rather than on the screen.

Guidelines

  1. 1

    44 points, whatever is drawn

    Every control has at least a 44 × 44 point target, the Human Interface Guidelines minimum. The compact pill is drawn 38 points tall because the design calls for it, but its target is grown to 44 without changing what is drawn. A gear glyph in a corner is a 19-point target unless it is given the full 44.

  2. 2

    Every control answers

    Buttons and switches strike a kajar tick when they act, so a press is confirmed by ear while the eyes are on the bilah. A disabled control never ticks, because nothing happened. Sliders don't tick at all: a tick per step is a machine gun.

  3. 3

    Labels never wrap

    Button labels are short, heavy and tracked. A label that would wrap is clipped instead, which reads as "shorten this" rather than as a broken control.

  4. 4

    Guidance lives on the instrument

    What to play next is shown on the bilah in front of the player. The score is peripheral, so the bottom panel starts down and is one tap away.

  5. 5

    Use the platform's own affordances

    Back is the system chevron at the system's weight, so it reads as Back rather than as an arrow someone drew.

In practice

Do

  • Give every tappable thing a 44-point target.
  • Confirm actions with sound as well as with sight.

Don't

  • Shrink a target to fit a layout.
  • Put information the player needs mid-figure anywhere but on the instrument.
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