KnobSlider: Design of a Shape-Changing UI for Parameter Control

2018. Hyunyoung Kim, Celine Coutrix & Anne Roudaut
Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

Abstract

Physical controls are widely used by professionals such as sound engineers or aircraft pilots. In particular knobs and sliders are the most prevalent in such interfaces. They have advantages over touchscreen GUIs, especially when users require quick and eyes-free control. However, their interfaces (e.g., mixing consoles) are often bulky and crowded. To improve this, we present the results of a formative study with professionals who use physical controllers. Based on their feedback, we propose design requirements for future interfaces for parameters control. We then introduce the design of our KnobSlider that combines the advantages of a knob and a slider in one unique shape-changing device. A qualitative study with professionals shows how KnobSlider supports the design requirements, and inspired new interactions and applications.

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Citation

Kim, H., Coutrix, C., & Roudaut, A. (2018). Knobslider: design of a shape-changing ui for parameter control. Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1–13). New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. URL: https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3173913, doi:10.1145/3173574.3173913

BibTeX

@inproceedings{10.1145/3173574.3173913,
author = {Kim, Hyunyoung and Coutrix, Celine and Roudaut, Anne},
title = {KnobSlider: Design of a Shape-Changing UI for Parameter Control},
year = {2018},
isbn = {9781450356206},
publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
address = {New York, NY, USA},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3173913},
doi = {10.1145/3173574.3173913},
abstract = {Physical controls are widely used by professionals such as sound engineers or aircraft pilots. In particular knobs and sliders are the most prevalent in such interfaces. They have advantages over touchscreen GUIs, especially when users require quick and eyes-free control. However, their interfaces (e.g., mixing consoles) are often bulky and crowded. To improve this, we present the results of a formative study with professionals who use physical controllers. Based on their feedback, we propose design requirements for future interfaces for parameters control. We then introduce the design of our KnobSlider that combines the advantages of a knob and a slider in one unique shape-changing device. A qualitative study with professionals shows how KnobSlider supports the design requirements, and inspired new interactions and applications.},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems},
pages = {1–13},
numpages = {13},
keywords = {slider, shape-changing interfaces, knob, contextual inquiry},
location = {Montreal QC, Canada},
series = {CHI '18}
}