the keyboardThe rise of shortcuts on the web

The (r)evolution of

what are keyboard commands?

are accessible via key combinations

shortcuts for o!en used functions which

From a user’s perspective, they’re

Because we, as designers, don’t want all functions to be visible at all times,

we hide a lot ..

http://www.uxbooth.com/articles/a-simple-usable-book-review/

“Hiding is [a] great method of making the

complex appear simple. For example,

when using the Swiss Army Knife you will

only really open one knife or tool at a time

— the rest remain concealed inside.”

http://www.usabilitypost.com/2010/02/07/the-laws-of-simplicity/

Therefore

they’re shortcuts for functions that might be

hidden on a deeper level in the interface

shortcuts are ubiquitous in so!ware..

web apps as well

but they’re gaining popularity in

“A [web app] is any application that uses a

web browser as a client. The application

can be as simple as [a guestbook] or as

complex as a word processor”

About.com

For example...

...

1On Tumblr the user can switch between

blogs by pressing +

Convenient because: the command is also used in Windows and OSX

On Soundcloud the user can jump to

a part of a track by pressing to

Convenient because: the number keys are an analogy for the waveform

https://soundcloud.com/saux/only-for-today

2

.. Which also works on YouTube2http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNafai5HB1E

Convenient because: the number keys are an analogy for the timeline

With Feed.ly the user can jump to

the next item by pressing

Convenient because: the ‘J’ key is easy to find due to a bevel

3

With Dropbox the user can copy-paste

by pressing + and +

Convenient because: this command is also used in Windows and OSX

4

Thus

Keyboard shortcuts can make the user

experience fluid & fast for regular visitors

Problems with shortcuts

Shortcut overload

The way in which they’re presented

is overwhelming and complex

different ‘key mappings’ of each application

Therefore users have to adept to the

Lack of standards

Simplifying shortcuts

in four steps

1. Introduce gradually & gracefully.

1. Introduce gradually & gracefully.

(Guided) tours

Introduce shortcuts (or gestures)at the first-time start-up

1. Introduce gradually & gracefully.

WeatherCube for iPhone

“Most people (sometimes over 90%) skip

over intro tours as quickly as possible and

those that don’t rarely remember what

they were supposed to learn.”

... So, keep it small, introduce only the

necessary steps to get started

1. Introduce gradually & gracefully.

Luke Wroblewski (2013), http://www.lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?1786

Or introduce them in certain situations ...

1. Introduce gradually & gracefully.

Dismissing a playing YouTube-video in the iPhone app

... when they’re relevant.

1. Introduce gradually & gracefully.

Exiting the full-screen mode on YouTube.com

‘Just in time education’:

“teach in the moment when specific

information is actually useful.”

1. Introduce gradually & gracefully.

Luke Wroblewski (2013), http://www.lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?1786

Let the user perform the command to make them feel confident

1. Introduce gradually & gracefully.

Guided tour in Mailbox for iPhone

2. Place tips carefully.

Easy trick in so!ware: display the command next to the corresponding button

2. Place tips carefully.

2. Place tips carefully.

Emphasize the main commands to the point that they’re being utilized.

Browsing through articles with TheNextWeb.com

3. Follow common patterns. Standardize.

3. Follow common patterns

Apply them in their contexte.g the spacebar starts/pauses audio or video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLhB8G1IXPI

3. Follow common patterns

Others can be applied more generallye.g Escape closes full-screen overlays or pop-ups

Facebook

3. Follow common patterns

Typeform supports a variety of shortcuts.The arrow keys, Tab, Enter & custom keys* can all be

used to navigate and fill out a form.

* e.g ‘1’ to ‘5’, or ‘y’ and ‘n’ , https://www.typeform.com/

4. Repetition &practice

“Although the average was 66 days, there

was marked variation in how long habits

took to form, anywhere from 18 days up to

254 days in the habits examined in this

study”

4. Repetition & practice

PsyBlog (2009)

Repeat the most important available shortcuts on every page

4. Repetition & practice

Dribbble.com

Progressive reduction:Show tips for beginners, hide for experts.

Keep training them.

With LayerVault, 1 variant of the same button is shown based on the user’s performance

4. Repetition & practice

http://layervault.tumblr.com/post/42361566927/progressive-reduction

5. Keep It Simple & Small.KISS.

BONUS

Keep organized, only support shortcutsfor main tasks

5. Keep it simple & small

On Twitter.com nearly every action or screen is available as shortcut. Are they overdoing it?

Multiple buttons per command are much harder to memorize and increases room for failure

5. Keep it simple & small

Using combinations effectively in a game like Street Fighter takes years of practice.The same applies for so!ware, or web apps

So...

...

Let’s make shortcuts easier to learn & use

and enhance your web app

questions? e-mail me at sjoerd@sodastudio.nl