BUTTONS ARE FUN: WHY PHYSICAL INTERACTION AMPLIFIES BRAND EXPERIENCES IN A SCREEN-CENTRIC WORLD
Blair Neal, Deeplocal’s VP of Creative Technology, on the value of tangible interactions:
Did you ever notice that kids don’t need an instruction guide to start playing? Visit any children’s museum, and you’ll quickly observe the intuitive nature of tangible interactions. We don’t need to tell our children how to push a button, pull a lever, or spin a dial. In fact, the only people scoping out the signs that accompany the exhibits are adults.
“Interactive exhibits and installations have just 47 seconds (sadly, our average attention span) to attract, instruct, and engage.”
For interactive brand experiences, the product or messaging may be more complex, but the interaction shouldn’t be. When creating tech-driven activations, you have to address a fundamental challenge: how can physical and digital be integrated to create a truly novel, yet delightfully simple user experience?
Interactive exhibits and installations have just 47 seconds (sadly, our average attention span) to attract, instruct, and engage. And because software is easy and inexpensive to update, touchscreens and digital interfaces have become the easy go-to to drive these interactions. The challenge is that there are a host of benefits that get lost when physical, tactile interactions are replaced solely with screens.
“Tactile, electromechanical interfaces focus our attention on our own agency, as the worlds of humans and machines increasingly intersect.”
In his recent Atlantic piece “Buttons Are Bougie Now,” Drew Millard notes that physical buttons “represent an old-school sense of genuine control over our technology,” adding that they “do one thing at any moment; they engage our muscle memory in a way that gives us a sense of mastery over a device.” Tactile, electromechanical interfaces focus our attention on our own agency, as the worlds of humans and machines increasingly intersect.
Millard adds that a button, in contrast to touchscreen controls, feels premium because it “can’t be updated the same way an app can—it’s got to be right the first time.” There’s a high level of intention that a button brings to an experience—but not just from the perspective of the designer. The user also presses a button or pulls a lever definitively; there’s no expectation to undo the action.
“Simply put, pushing buttons is fun. Our brains are wired to love tangible cause and effect.”
This confidence in our actions stems from experience. We’ve been practicing how to interface with the physical world our entire lives—feeling, pressing, pushing, pulling, sliding, picking up, dropping, throwing, catching, rotating, twisting, spinning, sensing temperature, and more. These tangible interactions bring human-centered benefits to an experience that purely digital interfaces cannot always replicate:
INTUITIVE — Physical interfaces carry with them affordances. Most users won’t try to slide their hands on a big button or put a physical block into the wrong sized slot.
UNEXPECTED AND MAGICAL — At the same time, though physical interfaces themselves are familiar, the fact that they can cause something unusual to happen through digital mapping and feedback is the magical twist that creative technology brings to the table. And, in our increasingly screen-fatigued world, physical interactions stand out.
FLEXIBLE AND FUN — Tangible interactions offer flexibility that a rigid and linear set of screen-based instructions or sequences do not, resulting in playful improvisation.
ACCESSIBLE — When designed properly, physical interfaces can be more approachable and universal to audiences of various ages, ethnicities, and abilities.
INVITING (AND EVEN TEMPTING) — Seeing a big, shiny, physical button feels like a strong invitation. Go ahead, press it. See what happens!
ACTIVE — If you’re interacting with a physical interface, odds are that you’re paying close attention to what you’re doing and not passively drifting off into screen-space.
SENSORY AND SATISFYING — Texture, temperature, weight, and other physical sensations build sense memories. Throwing a ball at a target in real life results in a different sense of satisfaction than performing the same action on screen.
Simply put, pushing buttons is fun. Our brains are wired to love tangible cause and effect, and adding physicality to interactive experiences makes them more memorable. So whether you’re creating an installation for retail, workplace, museum, or event, combining digital technology with analog form factors can elevate the interaction. Think: less transactional, more experiential. Better yet, think like a kid.