I wish more apps would consider the "meatspace" physical layer of their software stack like this...
Facebook Paper's gesture problems
21–30 of 66 posts
Re: Facebook Paper's gesture problems
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
I just tried swiping from the middle. I can advance 13 stories by starting from the middle. How is that not enough inertia? Why would I need to swipe 20+ stories in a single motion, when I cannot read any of the titles when they go by that fast?
Was that swipe comfortable? Could you scan most of the headlines quickly, or was your thumb covering up most of them? Paper's story carousel is designed to get you scanning headlines quickly with the inertial scroll. I believe that the current configuration — with its gestural shortcomings — does not ideally accomplish that goal.
Yes, the swipe was relatively comfortable, and because I use Paper as a regular user (not someone trying to dissect the UI) I am scrolling to view 2-3 elements at a time. I am not scrolling for speed. I fundamentally disagree with your idea that this interface was designed for efficiency. It seems to me that it was created as a playful, gestural interface, that is novel and fun to use. If they really wanted to design for efficiency it would have been a table view.
I also disagree with your statement that a strong inertial scroll is important. What is the use case for needing to put so much inertia into the carousal that you cannot read the titles? Why would being able to flick through 20+ elements in one swipe be useful?
I do agree, however, that the elements could be taller.
Re: Facebook Paper's gesture problems
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
Author here: I disagree that one can achieve the same effect by swiping near the center. A middle-to-left swipe on the phone doesn't make use of Paper's exciting physics-driven carousel. I can barely get any inertia swiping from the middle. Even worse, my thumb covers up most of the content and I have to make a "dabbing" motion to see a steady stream of stories.
I agree about the thumb covering the content, but in the short period of time I've spent with the app, I've found myself swiping from the middle - mostly along the bottom-edge of the screen. And I guess the physics-driven carousel hasn't been a huge problem yet since I've mostly been swiping to pan through the content for skimming. Guess that's the challenge of any interface - that different users may approach it in…
Thanks for reading / commenting!
Re: Facebook Paper's gesture problems
#24Simple solution: swipe up on the carousel to make the cards full-screen, then browse. The whole UI works on this paradigm, so it may not be obvious at first, but it will be if this style of app continues.
I'm sure he's aware of that. This is a major element of the UI which shouldn't require you to move to another screen to enjoy.
Swiping near the bottom with my thumb hasn't bothered me so far, but the text is quite hard to read at that small of a size. I would also like to those cards a bit larger in the future.
Re: Facebook Paper's gesture problems
#25I am right handed but I seem to split it for phone usage, and I also use both hands a lot of the time. I don't wish to diminish the point that this may be and for people who use the app as pictured it may be painful, but insinuating that 90% of people will do so just because nearly 90% are right handed is not correct.
I don't use facebook but I'm interested in how it goes for this app.
It seems you're still reaching for a corner and curve your finger inward, isn't it as stressful for the left hand ?
Re: Facebook Paper's gesture problems
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
Was that swipe comfortable? Could you scan most of the headlines quickly, or was your thumb covering up most of them? Paper's story carousel is designed to get you scanning headlines quickly with the inertial scroll. I believe that the current configuration — with its gestural shortcomings — does not ideally accomplish that goal.
Yes, the swipe was relatively comfortable, and because I use Paper as a regular user (not someone trying to dissect the UI) I am scrolling to view 2-3 elements at a time. I am not scrolling for speed. I fundamentally disagree with your idea that this interface was designed for efficiency. It seems to me that it was created as a playful, gestural interface, that is novel and fun to use. If they really wanted to design…
Looks like we use the app differently, which is entirely possible in this world ;) My assumptions were twofold: 1) users would like to scroll and scan quickly (because they're impatient), diving into content to find something that looked interesting to read, and 2) that the inertial scroll literally amplifies that action — potentially getting you something you want, faster.
Flinging the carousel has a playful factor (that you mentioned) and serves to immerse you more into the content. The fact, though, that I have to hurt my thumb to do this is a glaring problem, IMO.
Re: Facebook Paper's gesture problems
#27I am right handed but I seem to split it for phone usage, and I also use both hands a lot of the time. I don't wish to diminish the point that this may be and for people who use the app as pictured it may be painful, but insinuating that 90% of people will do so just because nearly 90% are right handed is not correct.
I don't use facebook but I'm interested in how it goes for this app. It seems you're still reaching for a corner and curve your finger inward, isn't it as stressful for the left hand ?
I'm not sure, pulling might be easier than pushing? I guess the difference is you are stretching in the air and coming back to your resting state while pushed against the glass rather than the opposite. Also you might be working around the fact that your thumb covers the content more when using the right hand.
What I've found myself doing is using two hands.
Re: Facebook Paper's gesture problems
#28From the article:
All it requires is shrinking the space allocated to the Topic section above, and increasing the space allocated to the story navigation by 50 pixels. I think this actually supports the mission of the app even more — to push you to read stories you find interesting
I agree with this 100%. The lower navigation elements are WAY TOO small.
Another option (if any Paper developers are listening) would be to allow dynamic re-sizing of the lower navigational elements.
This is already allowed (it grows as you swipe up) - it just isn't "sticky".
Re: Facebook Paper's gesture problems
#29On a separate matter, how does Facebook Paper get its permissions? I have the Facebook app installed on my iPhone, but I don't have Facebook linked to the operating system. When I installed Paper, I was never prompted to login. Are they able to read a piece of information shared by the normal Facebook app in order to authenticate Paper users without requiring an additional login? Doesn't that violate the sandboxing of application data, or are they able to circumvent those policies since it's all associated with the same app publisher?
Re: Facebook Paper's gesture problems
#30On a separate matter, how does Facebook Paper get its permissions? I have the Facebook app installed on my iPhone, but I don't have Facebook linked to the operating system. When I installed Paper, I was never prompted to login. Are they able to read a piece of information shared by the normal Facebook app in order to authenticate Paper users without requiring an additional login? Doesn't that violate the sandboxing o…
Same app publisher can share a common id. As long as you have one of their apps installed.